


Catch Me If You Can

by lostscaredandalone



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternative Universe - FBI, Character's Name Spelled as Hanji, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, FBI Agent Erwin Smith, FBI Agent Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Graphic Description of Corpses, Kidnapping, M/M, Murder, Murder Mystery, Nonbinary Hange Zoë, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Slow Burn, Small Towns, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-07-07 21:11:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 30,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15916335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostscaredandalone/pseuds/lostscaredandalone
Summary: It’s June of 2006 and eight girls have vanished from small-town Burkeville, Virginia in the span of three weeks.Enter Erwin Smith, a psychologist for the FBI who is sent on his first in-field case along with the new transfer, Detective Levi Ackerman.They’re suddenly thrown into rural country Virginia with nothing but a stack of files, a 2001 Honda Civic, a small room at a local inn, and an expectation to return home with all the answers.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, friends! This is a project I've been working on for a few months now. I plan on posting a chapter every Monday (except for this first chapter, of course). This chapter specifically is a bit shorter than the others, so I like to call this an "introductory chapter" of sorts. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy it!

Erwin Smith was always considered a put-together man by anyone who had come into contact with him. He was the trophy boy of Survey Corps, a novelty that did not go unnoticed in his line of work within his time working at the FBI.

The respect and overbearing adoration enabled the blond many opportunities in his lifetime. He’d learned long ago to use his reputation as a way to get what he wants.

He always got what he wanted.

It wasn’t until he met a small man with a resting bitch face and sour attitude that he knew what frustration was. After years of getting his way the second he bats an eyelash, the sudden intrusion of a man who refused to obey made the usually-composed blond want to tear the hair from his head. 

In his years working with the FBI, Erwin had been assigned a personal office within the Survey Corps branch, which had been created to solve low-interest cases cast aside by the FBI. His desk work involving mostly paperwork and second-hand criminal profiling based on evidence given to him by fieldwork detectives. He, himself, had never been involved in fieldwork previously.

Levi Ackerman had been transferred to the FBI Headquarters in San Francisco, as Erwin had gathered from his coworkers. From where, however, he had not been able to find out. More than anything, he was much more curious as to why the man had been transferred and why Erwin’s higher-ups decided to put Ackerman on a case with him. Let alone why Erwin’s first in-field case was to be with a transfer detective.

The five-hour flight to Weyers Cave, Virginia was hell. Ackerman seemed to show nothing but disdain at the sanitary levels in the airport, not even to mention the utter freak-out the man had once they’d sat in the cramped seats of the airplane. Erwin was never more thankful to have his headphones and his iPod to block out the man’s endless complaining.

The two and a half hour drive from the airport in Weyers Cave to the inn in Burkeville was quite possibly worse than anything he’d experienced in the flight. The two had fought over music preference for about 45 minutes before Erwin insisted on stopping at a blockbuster to pick up some CDs for the rest of the trip. With a sizable amount of debate, they’d listened to a mixture of Michael Jackson, Guns N’ Roses, Journey, Bon Jovi, and Pink Floyd on the remainder of their trip.

While he tried to maintain his cool persona, every time the raven made passing jabs at his “spoiled rich boy attitude” or his “freaky” professionalism, Erwin was getting closer and closer to snapping the further they’d gotten into their extensive drive.

Upon arrival at the Quality Inn on the far edge of Burkeville, Erwin had never felt more on edge. Not only because of the looming danger of being stationed in the heart of the sudden kidnappings, but also because of the constant presence of the infuriating Detective Levi Ackerman.

The room they’d been stationed in was identical to almost every hotel room he’d ever seen. This room, however, seemed smaller- to his dismay- and painfully rundown. The walls, most likely once white, had a questionable yellow tint to them. The comforters covering the two identical queen-sized beds seemed somewhat clean, but he had a feeling that upon closer inspection, they’d be just as stained and run down as everything else in the room.

Taking a look out the large window at the far end of the cramped room, he furrowed his brows as he took in the sight of the power lines and the run-down diner positioned only a few feet from the inn. Compared to the view from his penthouse glass walls, the view from the smudged glass made him homesick and slightly unnerved.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” Ackerman’s blunt nature never failed to make Erwin flinch. After being around poised, professional coworkers, the sudden 180 degrees of a personality shift threw him off on levels he couldn’t seem to express.

Choosing to ignore the other man, he let go of the curtain, letting it drape over the dreadful, questionably stained window once more. He moved over to the leather suitcase perched on the edge of the bed, suddenly glad he’d chosen the bed farthest from the window. He began sorting the contents of the bag in smaller piles, organizing the clothes and separating them from the hygiene products.

“Could you hand me some of those hangers from the closet?” He gestured vaguely to the small closet space by the entrance to the room and continued to sort his belongings.

After getting no reply, he paused, looking over to Ackerman to ensure he’d heard him. When they locked eyes with no response from the other man, Erwin simply let out a quiet grunt and trudged over to the closet. He reached up and grabbed a handful of the flimsy hangers himself, being slightly more aggressive with the action than he originally planned.

Once the blond had all of his clothes situated where they needed to be, he turned to Ackerman, eager to break the odd, awkward silence.

“How about we set up some ground rules? I’m quite sure we’ll be here for a few weeks at the least and I think it would do us some good to maintain the orderly peace in here.” He watched the mans thin, dark eyebrow twitch, possibly in annoyance, before outright rolling his grey eyes at Erwin's suggestion.

Erwin was taken aback once more as the man drawled out, “Whatever helps you sleep at night, Eyebrows.”

The childish nickname sent a jab of pain to his temples. Erwin was in no mood for a headache. “Mr. Ackerman is this really the time-”

“Alright, alright. I was joking. You look like you’re gonna pop a vein.” The smaller man casually rummaged through his luggage, sorting out clothes and placing paperwork onto the small desk opposite his bed.

Exasperation at the detective's immature antics continued grating on his already frayed nerves. “Mr. Ackerman-”

“Just call me Levi. You’re making it sound like some weird porno.” The casual tone and unreadable expression made Erwin want to scream. Less than an hour spent in this room with the other Agent was sending Erwin into a dangerous downhill spiral of anger.

When he offered no response to Ackerman’s taunt, the small Satan spawn walked to the window to observe their surroundings. He wasn’t so quiet about his displeasure. “Well, would you look at that. A luxurious view of a shitty diner. Lovely.”

Not in the mood to strike up another conversation with the other man, he walked over to his luggage and grabbed the computer from his carry on. Erwin sat at the standard rundown desk and began checking through his emails. For once, he hoped for some sort of work to keep him occupied for the next few hours.

He began to zone out as he read through and deleted the spam, only to be brought back to focus by the familiar “Darius Zackly” in the top line, followed by “Burkeville Case” in the subject line. His mind focused in on the email, hoping to receive new information on the case.

Opening the file, he was more than pleased to be informed of a report of a sighting of a strange man in the western outskirts of Burkeville. His eyes scanned over the document many times as he was brutally reminded of how faulty eyewitness accounts tended to be.

Tall, dark hair, dark eyes, slouched posture, black coat, suspicious behavior. It all sounded the same as every other case. In cases like this, most accounts read off the exact same descriptions from the stereotypical “criminal” figure. While it was nice to have a starting point in sense of location, he knew from experience not to count on the eyewitness reports for solid evidence. The brain is faulty and the eyewitnesses always draw up stereotypes.

He sent an email back to Zackly as he described the reluctance to let the account take priority in the investigation and promised that he’d- they’d catch whoever was doing this, and soon.

The case seemed like just another petty manhunt. With the kidnappings catching the attention of authorities, Erwin suspected that the paranoia would set in soon. He suspected a Kemper-esque admission of guilt any day now. He only hoped that the victims would be alive by the time the police got to them. Yet, a wary part of his brain knew he shouldn’t get his hopes up. He knew that the chances of finding the victims intact were slim to nothing. It was a rarity to find a kidnapper that would keep victims alive for any more than 24 hours.

He closed the tab and began massaging the tension out of his temples. He knew it was wrong to doubt the victims and their well-being.

“Do you think they’re alive?” The question spilled out before he could process it first.

Even though Ackerman was a royal pain, he was rather intuitive when he wanted to be. “No. You think this is my first fucking case? We both know there would be no reason to keep them alive. There's been eight missing person reports in central Virginia in less than two weeks. Even if they wanted the victims alive, they’d seriously be risking a mini victim rebellion.”

He silently hoped the kidnapper was inexperienced in disposing of and hiding bodies. Finding people, dead or alive, would be extraordinarily difficult in a rural town. Even through the doubts, it did seem luck was on their side for this case. While missing person cases take longer to solve, they did have one good, consistent lead to follow; a rarity in their field of work.

The victims had all had similar facial structures and defining features that were oddly particular. In murder investigations, the sign would lead them to believe the killer was looking for someone in particular or perhaps they’d had a conflict with someone who looked similar to the victims. In that case, the killer could usually be found when authorities find and question people in the area with the similar features. Usually, they would find the killers previous lover, friend, or occasionally, family member. Kidnapping, however, has a much more concealed trail to follow. While DNA and general circumstantial evidence can be found on a murder scene, kidnappers typically leave behind no corpse, giving them no distinct spot to look for any evidence. However, it’s likely they may begin finding some bodies once they trace the kidnapper’s movements and trends. After all, Erwin thought, this kidnapper is highly suspected for murder in this case.

“Think any harder and your brain might explode” Erwin blinked and looked over to his roommate. He shook his head and let out a heavy breath.

“Nothing important.” He didn’t have to look over at the other man to know he was scowling. It was known to be a default expression of his by now.

“We’re stuck on this case together. It may not seem ‘important’ to you, but if I have to work on this case with you, you damn well better start letting me in on what the hell you’ve got going on in that head of yours.” A look over to Ackerman confirmed his suspicions about the glare.

Another beat of silence before Erwin spoke up, voice oddly loud in the small room. “We’ve established that it’s likely we’ve got a murder case on our hands, correct?”

The smaller man looked as if he would respond with a snarky comeback, but refrained with a puff of air and a nod. Erwin continued. “The ‘kidnapping’ victims all had dark brown hair, dark eyes, freckles, ranged in between five foot three and five foot five, and were between 100 and 120 pounds. These victims are clearly chosen out of a similarity of physical features.”

He glanced down at the files on his bed and opened the tan folder, flipping through victim pictures and descriptions.

“With murder cases, this usually tells us that we’ve got a driven, personal string of murders. It’s typically the same for kidnappings as well. I was just thinking about the difference being that we have no bodies and no murder scenes to begin the search for any DNA left behind.”

The shorter man nodded and looked over Erwin's shoulder at the case file. “Well, the physical similarities are the strongest lead we have. We need to start getting some solid evidence if we’re gonna start tracing down our guy.”

Erwin glanced up at his companion, the excitement beginning to light up his eyes. “Where should we begin?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hunt for some information begins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya! I’m super excited to get this story up and going and I’m so excited for feedback as we go! Thanks so much for your time, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Erwin stood in front of the body length mirror adjusting the bolo tie around his neck, making sure his hair was in place, and smoothing out any rustles and wrinkles in his button up. From the corner of his eye, he could see Ackerman sitting on his bed, glaring at him slightly harsher than usual.

“What?” Ackerman met his gaze in the mirror and stood up, stepping closer to the mirror.

“If you think you’ll get any answers from the locals dressed like this, you’re fucking crazy.” Pale hands rustled his pristine blond hair. The initial shock left Erwin wide-eyed and speechless. 

The anger followed soon after. “Was that necessary, Ackerman?”

The dark tone of his voice heeded no reaction from his companion. He simply went to the small closet by the front door and began shuffling through Erwin’s clothes.

“Why the hell’d you only bring suits?” Erwin raced to the closet and tried to stop the smaller man from going through his clothes.

“Ackerman-!” He reached out to grab the man by the arm, only for Ackerman to slip out from reach and walk around him.

“Look, if you want any of these people to trust us and give us answers, you can’t go in there looking like a Fed. If you want these people to trust you, we’ll have to look as ordinary as possible.” He gestured to the clothes hanging in the closet. “Which means you’re not wearing these goddamn suits, shit-for-brains.”

Ackerman nudged by him and pulled out a white undershirt and the most casual black pants he owned. Before he could blink, the articles of clothes were thrown at him.

“Not the best, but it’s better than nothing.” Ackerman nodded his head to the bathroom, urging him to get dressed.

He reluctantly walked into the bathroom to change into the clothes, trying his best not to drag his feet in what might be the most childish move he could think of. He dressed quickly. Looking in the mirror, he cringed at his ruffled hair and wrinkled clothes, but hesitantly stepped out into the small living space.

“If you’re done being high-maintenance, I’d like to get going soon.” He watched as Ackerman grabbed his backpack and the keys to the Honda from the desk. He didn’t give the smaller man the satisfaction of another argument and followed behind him as they left the hotel.

The air was hot and humid to an extent he’d never experienced before. June in Virginia was possibly the worst weather conditions he’d experienced in his life. Dry heat was something he could deal with. Humid heat, however, was the devil.

He wiped the sweat from his forehead and began to fan himself using the bottom hem of his white t-shirt.

Even though the diner was right outside the hotel, Ackerman had insisted that he’d rather ‘cut off his own legs with a spoon’ than walk the distance in the heat. However, stepping into the car was possibly worse than being out in the heat. The air felt thick and he noticed a significant difficulty in taking a deep breath. Even the air that immediately blared from the vents felt hot. He held back the urge to groan in misery.

It didn’t take very long at all for the Honda to pull into the surprisingly spacious parking lot next to the diner.

He shut the door behind him firmly and hurried to catch up to his companion.

As they walked side-by-side to the entrance of the diner, Ackerman looked over to him with his usual glare. “Remember to act normal, eyebrows.”

He held back from snapping at the shorter man. “Of course I’ll act normal.” He looked forward and let his tone drop into something mocking and admittedly childish. “I can only hope you do the same.”

He watched his grey eyes roll in annoyance but Erwin chose to just ignore his attitude in favor of grabbing the faux gold handles on the double doors and holding it open for the other man to enter. 

They were greeted almost immediately with a kind voice. “Welcome gentlemen, I’ll lead you to a table. Right this way.” After living in San Francisco for so long, he’d welcomed the idea of immediate service. There were most definitely benefits to small towns.

Erwin and Levi looked to each other and followed the petite redhead to a red and white booth by the farther end of the small diner.

They sat across from each other, Levi facing the doors and Erwin facing the exposed kitchen space. Erwin grabbed a slightly sticky menu from the table, flipping through the laminated pages.

The waitress pulled out a small notepad and a pen. “When can I get y’all to drink?”

He flipped to the back of the menu to look for the drinks. Ackerman spoke up softly from across the booth.

“I’ll take a hot tea.” He heard the telltale scratching of pen against paper followed by a polite, “Alright. And for you?”

“Coffee, please.” He looked from the menu to the waitress with a smile. “Thank you.”

She made eye contact with him for a moment before gently shaking her head with a small smile and writing down his order as well. “I’ll be right back with those.” He watched her walk away and scanned the rest of the sun-lit room.

There weren’t many people there, but the room consisted of at least three small families and a couple sitting at the bar that separated the dining room from the kitchen. The place was decorated to look like it was from the 50’s. The checkered floors complimented the red and white furniture. The pictures of old shiny, new cars, black and white photos of celebrities, and iconic architecture fit in well with the theme.

The series of windows along the wall located by the booths they were currently sitting at seemed almost pointless. As he’d seen from the hotel room, the view from the windows was the adorning windows of the first floor of the inn. He was glad he couldn’t see into any of the rooms.

On the other side of the diner had windows that viewed the gravel parking lot and the nearby two-lane road. Outside, it was peaceful aside from the occasional car speeding along the road. Virginia was really a nice state when he was able to escape the heat. It reminded him of his hometown in its own way.

The diner itself was surprisingly clean and homey. As far as he could tell, the servers were kind and efficient. He could definitely see he and Levi returning many times in the course of the case, regardless of whether they’re there for information or just for food and company.

He vaguely wondered how they’d persuade their waitress to talk to them without revealing their ranks in the Bureau. He considered that maybe they should try the customers first before talking to the workers. Taking another glance around the diner excluded that option. Everyone currently there was sitting in groups of at least three, making it almost impossible to approach anyone without seeming odd. The waitress would have to do for now, hopefully.

He was brought to by the sound of cups clinking against the white table.

“What can I get for y’all today?”

He quickly looked to the menu, realizing he’d zoned out long enough to forget to look for something to eat.

“We’ll both have the Grand Slam. Scrambled eggs, bacon and just the regular pancake, please.” She nodded to Ackerman and wrote down their order.

She looked to the two of them with a polite smile. “That all?”

“Yes. Thank you,” Ackerman looked to her nametag, “Petra.”

She looked at the man and smiled, kind eyes shining. She nodded to them and turned to the kitchen with a small smile still on her face.

Erwin waited until she disappeared from the kitchen to turn to the detective.

“What was that for?” He watched a thin eyebrow raise.

“Don’t give me that. You looked lost, so I helped.” Sarcasm was practically dripping from his voice. Deciding to drop it, he moved on.

He remembered the way the detective's voice softened when talking to the waitress. “Awfully friendly all the sudden, aren’t you? I didn’t know you had it in you.”

“You wanted people to talk to us, right? I’m just greasing these people up.”

Erwin took a long moment to glance behind the man in front of him and scan his eyes over the others sitting in the dining space.

“Not many people here.” He watched Ackerman eye the customers as well.

“Small town.” Erwin nodded slightly in agreement. “What’d you expect?”

Tired of being talked down to like a child, he held his cup to his lips and blew on the liquid, trying to cool it. Anything to avoid getting wound up even tighter by the detective. He noted dully that frustration was inevitable while he would be staying in close vicinity with the man for however long it would take to find the missing girls. He’d never felt so homesick in his life.

Positioning his body back against the wall by the far end of the booth, he draped his arm over the polished wood of the back of the booth and looked over to the exposed kitchen space. He’d never been much of a cook himself, but he always found it relaxing to watch others cook. The workers were efficient and orderly. He didn’t see their waitress in the kitchen, so he assumed there was a back area- possibly a break room- for the workers to go to when they weren’t busy.

He glanced over to Ackerman to find him watching the cars drive along the main road. When he wasn’t arguing over trivial matters, he was slightly pleasant to be around. He reminded him of Mike in the quiet, stern way they both carried themselves. He wished he’d been assigned to the case with Mike. At least they could tolerate each other. A part of him still wondered why he’d been stationed with Ackerman when he and Mike had made no previous errors together. He was in no mood to ask his partner about their circumstances, though.

He hadn’t noticed how long he’d been staring at Ackerman until steel blue eyes met his. He quickly averted his eyes to the red pickup truck parked in the lot, visible from the windows on the opposite side of the diner. Embarrassment crept up his neck and he praised whoever was listening when the waitress came into his field of vision with their food balanced on trays. When he repositioned himself to sit regularly in the booth, he found those grey eyes still narrowed and focused on him.

He looked down at the many plates laid out on the shiny vinyl table. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the smell hit him. A foggy part of his brain reminded him that the last time he ate was the night before the flight from San Francisco, California to Weyers Cave, Virginia.

Deciding to talk to the waitress after they ate, he began to dig in.

Seeing as how little time it took for both of them to finish eating, he’d gathered that the detective probably hadn’t eaten anything for a considerable amount of time as well. There was little to no conversation between he and Ackerman, but it was something he had anticipated. If anything, he was significantly more relaxed and satisfied after the full meal and the old, familiar songs playing throughout the diner. 

When the waitress stopped by their table to drop off the check, Erwin spoke up. “I’m sorry, but we’re new to the town and we were wondering about some of the good places to visit around here. Could you stop and chat for a bit?” Feeling odd and out of place, he kept his smile on his face, hoping she didn’t think he was too abrasive. He watched the shock come across her expression before she scanned her eyes over the remaining customers as well as the remaining workers moving leisurely around the kitchen. She looked back at the two men awaiting her response.

“I’ll try to get someone to cover for me. If not, I do have a break coming up soon if you’re willing to wait.” He nodded enthusiastically and thanked her for her time. He continued sipping at what was left at the water he’d gotten with the coffee. Erwin was glad that went well and he hoped he could continue the conversation with her without being conspicuous.

She appeared again from the assumed break room in the kitchen and made her way to the booth. “I got my shift covered for a while. I’ve gotta say, it might be the weirdest request I’ve ever made.” She let out a nervous laugh. “What was it Y'all needed?”

“We were only hoping you could tell us about the town. We’re new here and we were hoping for an insider’s perspective, if you wouldn’t mind.” Hoping he could get her to relax a little, he imitated a shy smile and gestured for her to sit beside him in the booth. He sat with his back against the wall again as Petra timidly sat down on the edge of the booth seat. Erwin admired her sense of caution and self-preservation. For now, however, he was nervous about making the wrong move and scaring the woman away.

Sensing Ackerman’s reluctance to talk, he took the lead, taking note to gain her trust with every ounce of information he’d obtained through his time as a psychiatrist. He’d had to learn how to gain people's trust to ensure they’d open up to him. Even now, he was thankful that the skills he’d learned were still coming in handy.

She looked to Erwin, most likely picking up on the black haired detectives accustomed silence. She was much more perceptive than he’d previously given her credit for. “Not too much to see in Burkeville. It’s rare we get new faces around here.” She let out a quick laugh. “May I ask where Y'all are from?”

Hoping the detective would catch on, Erwin began weaving their tale. “We’re from Raleigh. Came here for a change of scenery, I guess.” To his relief, Petra nodded along.

“Why Burkeville?”

“I had a cousin who used to live around here. He’d tell me about how nice it was once you get away from all the pollution, cleaner air and all. Said autumn was beautiful around here.”

Petra laughed. “Can’t argue with that. Can’t say I like the summer heat much, though.” Both Erwin and Levi nodded to that.

Hoping to focus the conversation, Erwin continued. “I guess we’re just wondering about some of the places to go around here. Wanted some things to do to pass the time.”

“There’s a bar about a five-minute drive from here, if that sort of thing interests Y'all.” From the corner of his eye, he could see Ackerman discreetly writing away at a notepad. Petra continued. “It’s called Schauts. Little run down, but it’s run by good people. Cheap drinks, too. I’m sure Alex could give you much more information than me. He’s the bartender. Sweet guy, kinda reserved. I’m sure he’ll like Y'all just fine, though.”

More than pleased with the newfound information, he flashed Petra a broad grin and thanked her for her time. She stood from the booth, wishing them a good afternoon and wandering back off into the kitchen area. He watched Ackerman tuck his notepad back into his bag with a content feeling in the pit of his gut. While Petra hadn’t given them any profound information, she may have just pointed them to someone with information they needed.

Seeing as Petra seemed familiar with the mentioned bartender, he figured he’d have a much easier gateway to easy conversation. All he could hope for was meeting anyone with insight to the sightings mentioned in the email from Zackly. If they could pinpoint a more precise location, they had a chance- no matter how slim- of finding some resemblance of a lead.

Standing up from the booth and leaving a generous tip on the table, the two made their way out of the diner and to the Honda. It seemed Ackerman was just as lost in thought as Erwin was, if his lack of taunts was any indication.

As they shut the car doors behind them, Ackerman started the car and spoke up. “To the inn?”

Erwin shook his head. “I was thinking we should probably scout out a bit of Burkeville. Eyewitness reports lean to sightings in the northwest edges of the town. I’d also like to drive by Schauts. Give us a good idea of what we’re walking into.” To his satisfaction, Ackerman nodded and put the car in drive without any argument.

Rummaging through the glovebox for the CD’s they’d purchased on the drive to the inn. Pulling out a Bon Jovi album, he fed the disc into the receiver on the dashboard. The beginning vocals of In And Out Of Love began to play quietly from the speakers.

The short drive to the neighborhoods of western Burkeville was surprisingly peaceful. It seemed that the usually-hostile detective had been just as busy focusing on their surroundings as Erwin had. He certainly wasn’t complaining.

The houses were as ordinary as he'd expected and the sheer amount of churches blew him away. Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary from the surface.

Pulling out his Garmin navigator, he gave Levi directions to the bar they’d been referred to by Petra.

They pull up to the shabby pub’s small parking lot with very few cars parked in sight. The large flickering neon sign read “Schauts”.

Erwin’s eyes scanned among the parked cars and over to the small building. It was just as seedy as the waitress had warned them. The old dark brick walls were worn down and stained with who-knows-what. He would have assumed it was closed, maybe even abandoned, if it weren’t for the other cars in the lot and the flickering neon sign. The windows surrounding the pub were tinted and almost impossible to see through from a distance.

Ackerman took a loop through the lot. “Sketchy, but seeing as it’s the only bar for miles, I’m sure we’ll find some interesting company.” Erwin nodded in agreement as they pulled out of the lot to head back to the inn.

Erwin took another glance to the bar from the side mirror, his worn-out brain beginning to fog up.

Even though he dreads time spent in the cramped room with Ackerman, he was more than eager to go to the inn and get some sleep.

As he stepped out from the car once they’d reached the Quality Inn, he’d taken notice of how much cooler it felt at night. It was pleasant, if not a little too humid.

In the darkness, their room looked slightly less revolting. The odd yellow tint of the walls was indistinguishable in the dark. One would almost believe the room was cozy in this lighting.

After a relaxing shower, his body felt heavier. His mind was bleary enough to almost forget they had a case to solve. All that filled his brain was sleep. A look over to Ackerman revealed that the other man had not felt the same.

“Still working?” Erwin referred to the police reports and case files spread over Ackerman’s bed.

The smaller man didn’t even glance up at him. “Don’t sleep much. Just making sure I’m not missing anything in the reports.”

Too tired to fight with the man on the subject, he pulled back the comforter to his bed. Trying not to think too hard on the sanitary levels of the sheets, he laid down after flicking off the lamp next to the bed.

He fallen asleep quickly to the sound of crickets and pages softly flickering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reference, most of the chapters in this story will be about the same length as this one. 
> 
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! Feedback really helps me out, so don’t be shy! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A map is scrutinized, an appointment is made, and the rumored bartender is met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday (or whatever day you're reading this on)! I'm excited to announce that I have written all eleven chapters of CMIYC, making it the first multi-chapter fic I have ever planned out and finished through to the end! It still needs hella editing, but it's all written out, so yay! It may not sound like a lot, but I can't help but be super proud of myself.
> 
> Anyways, I really hope you enjoy this chapter and I look forward to the feedback!

Erwin clears the stacks of paperwork and files on the small desk in the corner in the room, followed immediately by Ackerman laying out a large map of central Virginia. To his dismay, the smaller man pulls out four small knives- one from each of his boots, one from a chest holster, and the last from a holster on his bicep- and plans them firmly in each corner of the desk to secure the map to the wood.

Erwin sends him a stern look that goes completely unnoticed, probably intentionally. Ackerman continues to outline the area of Burkeville in a dark red marker.

“Remind me, again, why we’re using a printed map instead of our computers? Does it not seem a little… old fashioned?”

Without so much as a glance in his direction, Ackerman begins to mark what looks to be the place they’re currently staying as well as a few of the nearby establishments. Erwin recognizes the diner and the bar they were told about by the waitress they’d met.

“A physical map is good to have to make any direct markings. Good for looking at specific landmarks. Better with the topography and what not.” Ackerman capped the marker and stepped away from the map. The smaller man scanned his eyes over the paper and let out a harsh groan as he roughly ran his hands through his black hair.

“What’s wrong?”

“Look at the area north of the 460.” Just above the highway at the northern border of Burkeville was miles and miles of forest, only interrupted occasionally by passing dirt roads.

Overall, Erwin didn’t necessarily expect anything else. “What about it? Looks to be typical to Virginia.”

Levi began mumbling curses to himself before facing Erwin. “I bet everything I own that there will be bodies around here.” He watched the pale finger trace across the trees on the map. “This’ll take days to search. Son of a bitch.” Before he could question the man’s words, Ackerman fetched his phone from the nightstand, dialing numbers quickly and leaning against the window as he waited to be answered.

Erwin continued to make note of the roads crossing through the town as well as the railroad tracks crossed through the center of Burkeville. For a small town, he was amazed at how many possible places one could dump a body.

“Hello, this is Levi Ackerman. I’m from the FBI and my partner and I are currently working on a case in Burkeville. I want your search records from the missing person case of…” He picked up a file from the nightstand and balanced his phone with his shoulder as he held the file open to read it. “Julia Harding, Francesca Agro, Caitlin Ammins, Mariana Adams, Carina Jennings, Raegan Ulrich, Nicole Todd, and Hannah Kennedy.” He paused, listening to what Erwin assumed was an officer at the nearby police department.

“Yes. When could we stop by?” Grey eyes looked to him and he took it as a sign to get out his notepad and start writing. Ackerman then proceeded to look at the calendar they had hanging by the desk.

“We’re available any time convenient to you except for tonight.” Another pause. “Tomorrow can work. Okay, Friday at 2:30.” Erwin wrote the time and location down on the paper in front of him. “We’ll be there. Thank you. Bye.” The smaller man placed his phone back on the nightstand.

Erwin handed the pen to the detective, who then presumably wrote the appointed time down on the calendar as well. Erwin took his chance to provoke Ackerman. “Who knew you could be so professional? I didn’t hear a single explicative out of you in the entirety of that conversation.”

Levi ignored him and brushed by the blond to examine the map. “We’re talking to the police officers to see where they’ve already searched. It should save some time.”

Erwin thought for a moment, suddenly wishing he had more experience in fieldwork. “Won’t the police department run the search?”

After a shocked silence, the younger man let out a harsh laugh. Erwin felt the humiliation creep up his neck, but sat up straight and tried not to show his embarrassment.

“Could you make it any more obvious you’ve never been in the field? Alright Mr. Desk Jockey; no, we’re not leaving this shit to the police. They’re useless when it comes to things like this.” The smile disappeared from his face, almost as if it was never there. “If we want to actually solve this case, we’re gonna have to do it ourselves.”

Casting aside the dread of inevitable humiliation, Erwin countered, “Then why are we asking for the places they already searched if you say it won't help us?”

Lucky for him, Ackerman didn’t laugh in his face this time. “Didn’t say it would help. I said it’ll save us some time. Even though they’re lazy as fuck, we’d at least have a base to the search. I’m pretty sure we could guess where they’ve covered, but this way, we know there’s been at least a…” He paused, thinking. “minimal search.”

“Okay, so I’m assuming we’re going to use this-” he gestured to the map laid out on the desk, “to look for some search areas.” Ackerman nodded and response and they were quiet for as long as it took for the smaller man to pull out some paper, presumably to take notes on any observations or search possibilities.

Erwin spoke up as he faced the map. “Eight girls missing. None found…” He shook his head. “What’s the chance they’re all alive?” The question was mostly rhetorical, an afterthought at best, but Ackerman spoke up in response. “Very, Very unlikely. I have a feeling these girls wouldn’t submit without a fight. They’re young, sure, but confidence comes in numbers. They’d be out by now.”

Erwin nodded, still confused as to how no evidence had been uncovered throughout the entire timeline of the disappearances. “So now we wait.”

“There’s still some ground we can cover. I say we pay a visit to that bartender at Schauts.” Having found no other alternatives to continue advancing through the case immediately, Erwin nodded his agreeance and the two began grabbing any necessary items and heading down to the car.

Upon arrival to Schauts, Erwin took notice of the surprising amount of cars in the lot. It wasn't necessarily crowded, but compared to the almost abandoned lot they’d seen earlier, the small bar looked significantly livelier.

The interior of Schauts was cozy. He almost felt he’d walked onto a set of a cheesy western-based movie. The sleek, dark cherrywood and multiple warm red and brown hues made the place look to be the carbon copy of the stereotypical country bar.

He and Levi sat at the elevated bar, taking notice of the damp, freshly toweled down surface. Sounds of the patrons talking and laughing as well as the sounds of the football game playing from various TV’s around the room made Erwin wonder how he’d ever thought the place was abandoned before. A voice spoke up from the white noise, pleasant and husky. “What can I get for Y'all?” He looked and sounded younger and much less southern than Erwin had anticipated him to be. He may have been younger than the detective as well.

Erwin spoke first, “I’ll just get whatever beer you’re serving.” To his concealed surprise, Ackerman responded with a “same.”

The bartender gave a small smile and immediately fetched two glasses and two Miller Lite bottles. As the glasses were set down and filled, Erwin leaned into the bar slightly with what he hoped came off as an open, friendly aura. “Are you Alex?” The man looked rightfully taken aback, but Erwin spoke again before he could respond. “We’ve heard about this place from a waitress from a diner next to the inn we’re staying in. Name’s Petra. Said you were nice.” He held his smile, hoping he’d gained the guy's trust. 

“Oh, Petra. Haven't known her for long, but she’s great.” Alex wasn’t as eccentric as Petra was, and Erwin wasn’t surprised to know the two weren’t close seeing as how quick Petra was to mention the bartender. He nodded along as Alex continued talking after a brief pause. “You said you’re staying at an inn? Where are you guys from?” His light brown eyes went from Erwin to Ackerman, to Erwin again. “Raleigh. Guess we were eager to get away from the crowds for a while.” He laughed and looked to Ackerman, who continued sipping at his drink silently.

“Well, welcome to Burkeville, gentlemen.” A larger smile crept to the man’s attractive face. “Happy to have you.” Tan arms were placed on the bar counter as the bartender leaned against it. Erwin found himself shifting his approach and taking advantage of the prior atmosphere by leaning heavier onto the surface of the bar with a smooth smirk.

“Happy to be here.” His voice lowered, still subtle and indistinct. “Did you happen to have anything on the people around here?” Erwin tried to stay teasing, hoping the man wouldn’t think him any more than a curious passerby.

Alex let out a single, abrupt laugh. “People here are pretty standard. Got your creeps, got your common drunks, got your flirts,” A teasingly pointed look was shot to Erwin, “Typical town. It is odd seeing strangers, but I can’t say I mind.” Erwin watched eyes skim across not only him, but the detective next to him and he had to hold back a genuine laugh. This guy sure did lay it on thick, a behavior Erwin found amusing more than anything.

He heard Ackerman speak up from his spot on the barstool.“Oh, come on, there’s gotta be something at least a little interesting happening around here.” His voice was coyer than Erwin ever expected from the man, but still subtle enough that he wasn’t sure Alex would catch onto it.

Alex suddenly seemed much more somber then he had a moment ago. “I guess there are a few things, but the shit happening around here lately is rather depressing. Don’t think I’m quite ready to sour my night so quickly.” The small smile on the bartender's face had turned slightly bitter. Erwin was almost disappointed to see the teasing expression go.

Back to work, he supposed. “What do you mean?”

Brown eyes bore into his own. The silence lasted longer than he’d expected. Erwin assumed the man was contemplating his answer. “Neither of you hear about the girls?” Feigning a curious expression, he looked to his partner and back to Alex, seemingly oblivious.

The bartender's voice had lowered slightly, much harder to hear over the noise of the bar. “Some young girls have gone missing over the past few weeks. I’m surprised at how secretive it’s been. You’d think people’d be talking about it all over the news.” He saw Alex shake his head and drop his gaze to the beer bottle beginning to condensate in front of Erwin. “We have a frequent customer. Over there.” Alex’s head nods to a rugged man sitting in a back corner, blankly watching the game through unseeing eyes. “Richard Agro. Poor bastard. His daughter's one of the girls that’re missing.” Erwin couldn’t believe their luck. He almost assumed he was dreaming.

“Tragic… Truly.” Erwin lets concern creep into his tone as he continues to observe Agro. He looked overwhelmingly tired. He seemed unfocused, given away by the distance in his dark brown, almost black eyes. Erwin began formulating ways to speak to the man without causing a scene. He didn’t want to risk all their progress to speak to one person. While he could see the benefits of talking to Agro, it wasn’t worth he and Ackerman’s notoriety.

To his- seemingly endless, at this point- surprise, Ackerman spoke up once more. “He seems lonely.” Alex nodded and turned his attention to the detective.

“Rich comes here a lot, but he’s been quiet lately. Never really saw the guy as particularly outgoing, but he seems so distant now.” Even though they’d all turned their attention to the man, Agro hadn’t seemed to notice the sudden attention.

“Y’know, I think you guys should try to talk to him. He always liked newcomers, and you guys seem friendly enough. It’d be good to hear him talk again.” Alex took a step away from the bar. “Nice talking to Y'all. You should stop in again while you’re still in town.” Erwin’s smile returned to his face, full on and impossibly benevolent. He agreed to stop by again, and Alex continued wiping off the counters with a wet cloth, a minuscule smile still glowing on his face.

The two agents tread carefully to the isolated table in the corner. It wasn’t until they were within hearing distance to the man when black eyes looked to them. Erwin felt that he was being seen right through. He silently gestured to the unoccupied seats at the table and watched Agro process his thoughts. To his vast surprise, Agro cocked an eyebrow in silent permission and raised his glass of, what Erwin assumed was whiskey, to his lips. Erwin watched as the man swallowed the liquid and continued to observe the two men, waiting for one of them to say something.

“Hello, I’m Erwin Smith.” The bright smile came automatically. The man didn’t move a muscle. “This is Levi Ackerman.” He gestured a hand to the shorter man. “You looked a little lonely, sitting here. Hope you don’t mind our intrusion.”

Agro’s expression didn’t shift. “You’re not from here.” Words didn’t seem to come to Erwin for a solid five seconds. “Uh… Yeah, we’re not.” He scolded himself for faltering. Yet, the man was not affected and simply took another shallow sip at his drink.

“You’re here to talk about my daughter, aren’t you.” It didn’t sound like a question and Erwin was once again taken aback. After an unintelligible, stuttering attempt at a counter-response from Erwin, Agro held up an aged hand continued speaking. “It’s all people seem to talk about to me, nowadays.” He somehow seemed more tired than he did minutes ago. Erwin was beginning to fear he’d made a mistake by coming here.

Black eyes bore into his own blue eyes. “Francesca Agro.” Erwin had to stop himself from showing any signs of recognition at the name. He couldn’t believe his luck. “She’s been gone for almost two weeks.” Agro’s eyes seemed to get that distant look again. “Fuck-knows why her. Why any of those girls.”

The three were silent for a long while. Nearby, Erwin could hear boisterous shouting from many of the patrons as one of the teams presumably scored a touchdown.

Erwin decided to keep on gently prying. “What is she like?” His voice lowered and softened significantly, a stark contrast to the shouting of the people around him. He felt himself being scrutinized again before Agro spoke up once more.

“Francesca is stern, but she’d never hurt a soul. Never seen anyone as willing to step up and lead. Real smart girl.” A sorrowful smile made way to his lips. “I wish I could tell her now, more than ever, that I’m proud of her.” His voice tapered off, rough and barely-there.

Ackerman was the one to respond next. “I’m sure she knows.” No false complexion, only the blunt, icy detective that Erwin had recognized as Ackerman’s truest self. Erwin was taken aback by Ackerman’s intense, earnest statement. It seemed as if Agro appreciated it, though, by his responding nod.

“I’m sure she’ll be found. Sounds like a tough kid.” At Ackerman’s statement, a small, genuine smile came to Erwin’s face, entirely unintentional. He watched Agro finish his drink and settle his vacant eyes back to a television screen positioned somewhere behind Erwin.

Feeling as if it were a good time to leave the man to his thoughts, Erwin stood from his chair and wished Agro good fortune before turning and exiting the bar with Ackerman in tow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that it hasn't quite picked up yet, but I promise it will soon! Regardless, I hope you liked it. <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys get previous search records and make some future plans. Files are looked through and patterns are found.

The first signs of sunlight shone through the windows, already impossibly bright. Yet, the two agents were wide awake well before the rising of the sun. With neither of them feeling the need to fill the silence, the room was silent aside from the distant sounds of the birds outside and the early-risers at the inn beginning their days with shuffling and occasional conversation. Erwin felt the silence around them was both comfortable and tense, simultaneously. They both seemed to be fairly lost in thought.

Erwin’s dreams had been filled with young girls in dark cellars. His mind filled with simulated screams and tear-stained faces, making sleep almost impossible. Erwin was only hoping the nightmares wouldn’t follow him home.

The rest of the morning was mostly quiet for the two of them, the lull of conversation coming and going in waves and the everpresent sound of typing filled the room. Even though they had little to no information to go off of, they busied themselves on researching the area of Burkeville and whatever knowledge had been made public about the girls’ disappearances.

By the time 2:15 rolled around, Erwin was more relaxed then he’d been in days and more than eager to get a foothold on the investigation. As much as he hated to admit it, the only reason they hadn’t made any ground so far was because they needed the information already held by local police before they could continue.

Erwin was eager for the busywork that came with new leads. He was eager for some work to distract him from the pit of his nightmares.

The Burkeville Police Department was discreet and almost empty. In the department was a handful of desks, each cluttered and well-used, and two very small holding cells, both empty. Erwin doubted the cells had ever been used at all. Brown eyes landed on them from the nearest desk. The two agents pulled out their badges and confirmed to be the duo from the earlier phone call.

“Come on in, gentlemen. The name’s Brian Mullison.” The man was slightly shorter than Erwin, but bulkier. Erwin sat at one of the chairs on the opposite side of Mullison’s desk. Ackerman took the other.

Not wasting any time, Ackerman began. “What do you have on the missing girls?” The officer began typing and clicking around on his computer, presumably pulling up documents.

“We have all of their personal files, all of our recent search records, and any and all information sent out to the public. Where do you want to start?” He spoke as if they weren’t talking of the kidnappings and possible murders of eight innocent girls. Erwin decided he believed what Ackerman had said earlier about the police being only slightly competent in this case.

“Let’s go in that order. Let's see the personal files.” Ackerman helped Mullison turn the computer to an angle in which the three of them could all see the screen. Erwin immediately saw the familiar face of Julia Harding. 

Mullison spoke, regarding the file in front of them. “Julia Harding is the most recent disappearance. 14, turning 15 in a few months. She fits the general profile of the rest of the girls. I’m sure you’re familiar?” At their nods, Mullison continued. “They all went to school in the same area. Most ‘a them go to or just graduated from Nottoway High School in Crewe. Rest ‘a them just graduated from Nottoway Middle, right next to the high school. We’re calling it coincidence seeing as it’s the only schools around here.” Not finding fault in the logic, Erwin nodded. Next to him, he could see Ackerman writing in a notebook of his.

“Nothing seems odd in any of the girls. The only thing that stands out to us from the group is the mental conditions on Carina Jennings.” Mullison pulled up another familiar face on his computer. “Carina has a diagnosis of generalized anxiety and depression.”

Ackerman cut in. “Awfully young.” Erwin took notice of her date of birth. His chest momentarily ached to see she was only 15 years old.

“Runs in the family. They caught it early, but we’re definitely worried about how she’s holding up.” Even though Erwin knew they’d all been thinking of the low possibility of any of them being alive, he didn’t say anything to the officer. The silence was telling enough.

“Go ahead and show us your search records.” Mullison nodded eagerly in response to Ackerman’s demand, most likely eager to get off the topic of Carina Jennings.

Another report was pulled up on the screen, along with a vague map. The report mostly consisted of a list of what Erwin recognized to be coordinates along with a brief description below each one. Erwin watched Ackerman from the screen to his paper repetitively, writing down coordinates. The detective spoke as he wrote. “Any of these stand out in particular?”

Mullison kept his gaze on the computer. “The Quarry just outside the northern border of Burkeville seems to have been the most trouble. It was hell to organize a date to keep all the workers out and even more of a hell to search through all those damn rocks in the heat. Other than that, everything went according to plan. Nothing found, though.” Erwin watched Ackerman’s eyes shoot from his writing to the officer, presumably holding back a sharp, sarcastic remark.

This time, Erwin diverted the subject. “So what have you guys released to the public?” Mullison looked to Erwin. “We’ve kept the case under pretty tight wraps so far. We haven’t released anything aside from the surface information; eight girls are missing and the police are investigating the disappearances. It’s a small town and we didn’t want any panic, so that’s all they know.” Erwin stared off to the list of coordinates still pulled up on the screen. “Any names released?” Mullison shook his head.

After many beats of silence, the detective spoke up. “Release their names.” Ackerman was looking straight forward, his face not portraying any distinct emotion. Mullison took a moment to jot the request down on the edge of a paper. 

“May I ask why?” The officer sounded almost teasing, but Ackerman replied just as sternly as before, “If you send out the department’s phone number along with a request for any information, you might get a bite. The people around here are smarter than you’re giving them credit for. Chances are, someone’s seen something out of the ordinary.” Mullison wrote more information on the paper.

“Is that all?” Ackerman shook his head and sat further back into the chair, fiddling with the pencil in his hand. “We need a search party. Make sure to include a diver.” Mullison began writing on a new corner of the paper, out of room on the previous one. 

As he wrote, he questioned, “A diver?” Erwin had quietly thought the same to himself and he was glad someone else had asked, saving him any possible embarrassment.

“I noticed a small body of water in the woods just west of the Quarry. If someone with any brain at all decided to dump a body in that pond, they’d make sure it’d sink.” Erwin watched the brief flash of mortification strike across Mullison’s face, like a slap to the face. He could tell this was the first severe case the officer had ever come across.

He shook it off fairly quickly, but not soon enough to go unnoticed. When he spoke up, the two agents could hear the slight shake in his voice. “I see. I’ll talk to the chief.”

Ackerman breezed over the uneasiness in Mullison’s demeanor. “Keep us updated.” Ackerman wrote his own phone number along the top of the page Mullson had been using to keep notes on. To his surprise, Mullison hadn’t reacted with any sort of indignancy at the slightly intrusive action from the small detective.

With numbers and formal goodbyes exchanged, Erwin followed Ackerman as the smaller man began heading out to the Honda. 

Once they entered the car, Erwin cranked the air conditioning and continued the song they’d been playing on the way to the police station. Erwin picked up the small notebook placed on the center console and began reading over the notes Ackerman had taken, although it was mostly to make sure the man hadn’t forgotten anything important.

Suspicious eyes traced over to him quickly, but Ackerman had kept quiet and returned his eyes to the road ahead of them. Erwin took it as a peculiar authorization of sorts.

While searching for the most recent page, something caught Erwin’s eye. He stopped flickering through the pages as he came along about three pages completely filled with writing. Keeping his expression impassive as to not give himself away, he read through the notes eagerly.

He was discouraged to find the notes to be nothing less than what he assumed was Ackerman scrawling out original thoughts and ideas on the case. He suddenly felt ridiculous for thinking the paper would contain anything more. He found himself even more discouraged to find they hadn’t made many, if any, progress since the notes were created. He reminded himself that it’d only be a matter of time.

The trip to their room was quick and quiet, both of the agents eager to finally make some progress on the case.

As soon as they’d stood in front of the map adhered to the desk, Ackerman began tracing out and marking the coordinated given to them as Erwin held out the pages for the other man to refer to every now and again.

Once the man finished the task, he took a step back and looked over the distinct red circles made across the map. “Figures.” Erwin looked to the shorter man as a small, bitter smile briefly crossed his face. Ackerman looked at him, expression and tone teasing. “They took all the easy spots.” Their eye contact was broken as they looked back to the work in front of them. Erwin remained silent.

Minutes passed in contemplation before Erwin broke the silence. “Here, let me see the marker.” Ackerman handed over the red marker with the hint of a smile long gone from his face. Erwin wrote down the dates each area had been searched in small numbers above each circle.

“Fuck.” Not letting Ackerman’s language get to him too much, he simply humored the man with a, “what?”

“These areas were searched in the span of a week, the first one beginning three weeks ago and the most recent one being about two weeks ago, correct?” Continuing to humor the man, he nodded. “Which means, we might as well search the areas all over again.” Erwin’s eyes snapped up from the map in response.

He didn’t want to sound overly put off, but the words were out of his mouth before he could get his thoughts together. “What do you mean? They’ve been searched already.”

He watched as Ackerman shook his head, not looking at him. “I’ve been looking at the disappearance dates. We’ve got an abnormal kidnapper on our hands. I can’t help but notice how patterned the kidnappings are. Typically, a serial kidnapper has a pretty sporadic schedule, to throw off the police. They would kidnap someone, eventually kill them off, and wait for a certain time to repeat the process. After a while, they might get a pattern, a routine, if you will, but it’s still confusing and almost undetectable to anyone else but the kidnapper. With whoever took those eight girls, I can almost believe they aren’t kidnapping them with the intent to kill them off, but it’s iffy.” Erwin’s mind was racing, but he stayed silent as the detective continued. “I’m not too sure how to put together the why as of right now, but I’m sure it’s something we need to keep in mind as we keep going.”

Erwin’s brain seemed to take priority of thoughts over spoken words, and the two sat in a prolonged silence for a moment. Ackerman was the first to find words. “We need to search the areas again because it’s highly likely the kidnapper has revisited some of the areas. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find something new. Besides, I’m not too confident the officers had the forethought to search for any of the more specific details. As far as we know, they were only keeping their eyes out for corpses.”

With a newly informed set of eyes, Erwin looked back to the map spread in front of him. “So I’m assuming we start by re-searching the previous areas?” At Ackerman’s nod, he let out a small puff of air, almost similar to a laugh. “Police Chief won’t be too happy to hear the news.”

Ackerman remained still as he spoke. “Police Chief wouldn’t have this problem if his officers had an ounce of experience.” Erwin knew the man was right, but he also knew the officers were living in Burkeville; a place in which major crime is not the first thing to come to mind.

“I envy them.” Even without an explanation, the small detective seemed to silently agree with more understanding shining in his grey eyes than Erwin could have possibly predicted. Erwin felt a pang of rapport pass between them and for the first time, he could admit to himself that the other man was not as horrible as he’d originally thought.

The harsh, sudden ringing from Ackerman’s phone startled Erwin as it cut through their newfound comfortable silence. The detective harshly reached for the phone and scoffed at the number on the display, but answered nonetheless. “Yes?”

He heard familiar, indiscernible chatter from the other line. Ackerman remained silent for a long moment before saying anything else. Erwin assumed it was Officer Mullison. It seemed he had a lot to say. “Alright. Thank you. Bye.” Quick and to the point, exactly what Erwin had learned to expect from Levi Ackerman.

The phone was placed back down atop the numerous files stacked up on the top edge of the map. “The department authorized a search party, as well as a diver. They’ve also contacted the local news station, giving them the department phone number as well as a request for any information. They should be broadcasting that tomorrow morning.” Erwin nodded, content to be making some strides. Only to be brought down almost immediately. “Problem is, the searching is expected to take some time. We’ve got a small group of people that aren’t used to working around the clock. That and these people aren’t experienced in searching in general. Combined with having so few people, it’ll take us weeks to search every suspected area in enough detail. Normally, I’d suggest we find a larger group to make this go quicker, but we’ve got everyone we could get our hands on.”

Erwin ran his fingers through his hair at the news. “I say we start with the most obvious places first. From what little I’ve gathered, I’m fairly certain our kidnapper is inexperienced.” Ackerman quirked an eyebrow in response, but stayed quiet, waiting for Erwin to continue. “You said earlier that this kidnapper is likely taking these girls without the intent of killing them, correct?” A nod. “Well, that leads me to believe that there is schedule, just not what we’re expecting from the surface. You also mentioned earlier that kidnappers function on a cycle that consists of kidnapping another victim once they’ve killed the previous one. What if whoever took those eight girls still has some of them alive?”

Ackerman contemplated the statement for a long moment before continuing. “What if there is a cycle, but instead of looking at it from the perspective of one, we look at the possibility of more than one at a given time.” The detective’s voice seemed to culminate as he rapidly turned to a new page on his journal and began writing. Erwin empathized with the fervent behavior, for his own head was practically swimming with new thoughts and possibilities.

After a while, Ackerman placed the notebook down over the map and beside his phone. Erwin noticed a list written out of all the girls’ names. He watched as the man grabbed the calendar off the wall and brought it over as well. 

Ackerman wrote as he spoke. “I’ve numbered the girls one to eight in order of disappearance. Carina Jennings is one. She went missing on May 16th. Caitlin Ammins is two, gone on the 18th. Nicole Todd is three. 20th. Francesca Agro is four. 22nd.” Ackerman paused before continuing. “Already, there’s a pattern. From here on, however, it changes. Reagan Ulrich is five. She’s gone on the 26th. Four days after the previous disappearance. Hannah Kennedy is six. Gone on the 28th. Mariana Adams is seven. Gone on June 1st. Julia Harding is eight. Gone on the 3rd.” Ackerman stepped back from the desk, capping the marker.

Erwin observed the calendar. “2, 2, 2, 2, 4, 2, 4, 2.” He paused a moment, thinking. “At least we can say there’s a distinct pattern.”

Ackerman shook his head. “A frustrating fucking pattern.” His voice had an edge to it, clearly portraying his irritation.

Erwin smiled slightly. “But a pattern nonetheless. We can say the kidnapper thinks in twos.” Ackerman lets out a reluctant nod before adding, “Unfortunately, that makes things difficult for us. We aren’t exactly given much we could solidly predict. Sure, we could take a good guess, but it’s nothing confident.” There was a brief moment of silence between them before Ackerman suddenly flipped the page to the current month, startling Erwin more than he was willing to admit. 

“Wait…” Ackerman’s voice trailed off for a moment. “It’s the 9th.”

Erwin caught on quickly. “Six days since Julia Harding went missing.” They shared an incredulous look. Ackerman spoke next. “This is the longest… Fuck, there’s so much…” He watched Ackerman struggle to form words. He can’t recall ever seeing the other man this worked up. “So I’m thinking either the next pattern is six or someone was kidnapped recently. Very recently.”

“Should we call-” Before Erwin could even finish the sentence, Ackerman had already reached for his phone and begun dialing. This time, Erwin leaned in close to the detective, wanting to hear the other end of the conversation.

It didn’t take long for an answer. “Mullison, have there been any new kidnappings since Julia Harding?”

The officer sounded incredulous as he stammered out, “Of course not, why would-” Ackerman cut him off sternly. “With the report going out on the news in the morning, have them include a disclaimer for anyone to report a missing person as soon as possible. If you get any calls, make sure we are the first to be told. Understand?” 

It took a moment of stunned silence until Mullison let out a confirmation. Before the man could formulate any questions, Ackerman pulled the phone away from his ear, almost hitting Erwin in the face in the process, and hung up the phone.

And just like that, they were left to once again play the waiting game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys liked this chapter! I really look forward to the feedback you guys give me!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys finally get themselves a suspect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS, GO CHECK OUT THIS ART INSPIRED BY CMIYC! https://twitter.com/groovy_ocelot/status/1044430900610695168
> 
> For more A++ art, check out @groovy_ocelot on Twitter!

A week went by before they heard anything from the police department. The slowest week of Erwin’s life.

The two agents watched the news report as it came on the morning after they’d last spoken to Mullison. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. After a few days of cooping themselves up and attempting to make sense of patterns and routines, Erwin decided they go out and get some air.

Three days ago, they found themselves in the company of Petra once again as they ate their late lunch. That was when Erwin began to notice small differences in the people around them since they’d eaten there last. Even as Petra joined them with their check, she mentioned the fear washing over the town since the calling for information was played on the news.

Erwin knew where they were coming from. In retrospect, it may have been smarter to be more subtle than practically demanding answers from the townspeople. The resulting paranoia was something they saw coming, but had ignorantly hoped wouldn’t get in the way.

Something Erwin couldn’t seem to rid from his head was the uneasy thought that maybe they’d scared away the kidnapper with the report. He couldn’t help but think maybe the offender saw the news report and was steered away from Burkeville. Regret continued to swarm as thoughts of ”‘what if”’s remained ever-present.

They hadn’t seen any progress until earlier, when Levi’s phone went off, leaving them both to scramble for the small object. Levi answered the phone as Erwin leaned close to listen in as well. “Yes?”

He’d never been more relieved to hear Mullison’s voice. “We’ve got a caller. Should I give you the number or do you want a brief of what we were told?”

Levi spoke quickly, most likely just as eager as Erwin was. “Give me the number.” Mullison rattled off the phone number as Erwin quickly grabbed the nearest writing utensil and wrote the numbers as they were spoken onto his arm. They quickly redirected the call and waited in heavy silence, nothing but the agonizing ringing coming through the phone.

“Hello?” A female voice spoke through. Erwin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as Levi responded.

“Hello, this is Levi Ackerman. I’m working with the police on a case here in Burkeville. I was told you recently called the department?”

“Yes, sir, I did. Is it alright if I don’t give my name? The officer on the phone told me I could stay anonymous.”

“We don’t need a name. What did you want to say?” He could tell Levi was barely refraining from hurrying the woman on the other end.

“I have a neighbor…” He could tell she was struggling to continue. In fear or in reluctance, he wasn’t sure. “I don’t know him very well, but I saw on the news a while ago that if- if anyone suspected anything…” She paused for a moment, each second excruciatingly long. “His name is Joel Anders. It feels wrong to be accusing someone like this but… he’s always made me feel on edge. I can’t exactly explain it, but I think he’s been acting weirder since…” Her voice hitched. They both sat eerily still, hoping she would continue unprompted.

They weren’t disappointed as she carried on. “We’ve been neighbors for years, and he usually keeps to himself. But recently- he’s… he’s been out at odd hours. And it got me thinking… oh God… what if he…” Erwin heard a muffled sob and noticed how tense Levi’s shoulders seemed to have gotten. It was clear he was uncomfortable and didn’t know how to continue.

Erwin grabbed the phone from Levi’s grip and spoke with a tone much softer than the other man’s. “M’am? My name is Erwin Smith, I’m with Levi in this case.” The crying became softer as she listened. “You’re not making a mistake by reporting Mr. Anders. Don’t feel guilty over this. Worst comes to worst, we find out he’s guilty. If that happens, you’ve done those girls a huge favor. We might only find out Anders has nothing to do with it. In that case, your name won’t be released. I promise you’ll be ok and I promise you’re helping us out immensely with this call, okay?”

The crying had ceased and her side of the line had turned quiet again. Before long, though, she responded with a hoarse “thank you.” With the report made and Joel Anders’ name written down in Levi’s journal, he thanked the woman again and hung up after a quiet goodbye.

As soon as Erwin handed back the phone, Mullison was being dialed. It seemed as the officer was expecting the call. “We ran a background check on Joel Anders. Get this, he’s got a criminal record. Petty crimes way back when, a few accounts of theft and vandalism, but hell, it’s the better than nothing.”

Erwin felt hope surge through his chest as he waited for more information. “Even better news, he lives in the neighborhood many of the girls live- lived in.” As Erwin looked to Levi with a hopeful smile, the smile was quickly dropped as he noticed the discontented frown on the detective’s face. “Thank you, Mullison. I’ll call you back in a moment.”

The phone was once again hung up as Levi turned to him. “I’m thinking we have two choices here. We could either call the man and see if he’s willing to be brought into questioning as soon as possible or we get a search warrant. I think we have enough to convince a judge to let us search his place.”

To Erwin, the choice was clear. “Let’s get a warrant. If we give him a reason to suspect we’re on to him, he might kill the girls and flee.”

“I just can’t help but feel like we’re wasting time by getting the warrant.” Erwin was sent into a brief silence. Levi spoke before he could vocalize his objection. “I really don’t think he did it.”

Before he could think about the response, he spoke. “This isn’t revolving around who you think did it. Facts are, it’s the best thing we’ve found so far.”

Levi’s glare was harsher than usual as it landed on him. “You don’t think I haven’t thought about that, too? Something seems off about his location. It would be far too risky to be fucking neighbors with the girl you just kidnapped. Besides, all we have against this guy is that some neighbor called the police with some ‘maybe’s? Something isn’t lining up here.”

Stopping his instinct to immediately barge into the argument, he paused to let himself think. He could see where Levi was coming from, but he knew they were quickly running out of luck, and the promise of finally finding a suspect made him reluctant to let the opportunity slip by. 

However, he knew that Levi was right in mentioning that they had little to no solid evidence on Anders quite yet. “Fine, but we’re at least questioning him. As soon as possible. If anything goes wrong or if our suspicions are furthered, we get the warrant squared away immediately.”

The tense silence died down as Levi hurriedly called Morrison, quickly informing the officer that they’d be using one of their offices to question Anders. Mullison was also told to be prepared to type up the evidence they’d gotten against Anders in case the man refused to go into questioning. In that case, they’d send the document to a local judge to get a search warrant. As a last request, Levi had gotten Anders’ phone number from the records Mullison had pulled up.

With that, Levi wasted no time dialing the number. Erwin could feel his heart in his throat as the daunting dial tones rang through the speakers.

The line went silent for a moment. A solid beat passed until Levi spoke up. “Is this Joel Anders?”

All Erwin could hear from the other line was an affirmative grunt. Even Levi seemed taken aback at the harsh tone. “I’m Levi Ackerman with the FBI.” Erwin was hopeful to hear no immediate negative response from Anders. “I’m here with my partner, Erwin Smith. We were hoping you’d be up to going to the Burkeville Police Department for questioning.”

Anders’ response was slow to come. “For what?” For once, Erwin was having a hard time distinguishing what this man was thinking. The thought alone made his heart begin beating slightly faster.

“Nothing major. We’re only taking extra precautions.” Erwin subtly observed Levi. He was puzzled as to why the man seemed to be stalling.

It seemed Anders had caught on too. “I meant, what the fuck are you accusing me of?” Erwin and Levi shared a look.

“I’m sure you’ve heard of the eight missing girls in Burkeville?” Erwin’s heart only raced quicker as silence stretched on from the other line.

“Kidnapping, huh?” He heard incoherent mumbling and what sounded to be Anders shifting. “I can be at the department tomorrow.” Anders sounded less than thrilled, but Erwin was relieved to know he would comply.

“Okay, tomorrow. When can you be there?” More than anything, Erwin hoped they’d get in there as soon as possible. He was in no mood to continue wasting time. 

“Noon.” Levi passed the phone to Erwin and fetched the red marker off the desk before padding over to their calendar.

Erwin spoke as Levi wrote. “Noon it is. Thank you, Mr. Anders.” By the time he had finished speaking, the line went dead.

They sat in a thick silence for a few moments. Neither felt compelled to speak. Moreso, neither really knew what to say. They unanimously agreed that they would do themselves no good to let the restlessness keep them awake and decided they’d be better off trying to get some sleep.

After many minutes, possibly hours of rolling around, Erwin fell asleep with his mind still racing. He once again dreamed of cold walls, young, terrified girls, and bloodsoaked clothing. When he woke up to the light of the sun blaring through the windows and into his eyes, the dream had been long forgotten.

Rolling over to the alarm clock perched on his nightstand, he winced to see red numbers reading 7:23 am. He tried to roll over and go back to sleep. After a while, he gave up his attempts and pushed the blankets off to the side, sitting up with a yawn. As he stretched, his back and neck popped, much to his satisfaction.

As soon as he’d gained his bearings, he was greeted to the sight of Levi laying on his side, eyes trained on Erwin. The eye contact was prolonged long enough for Erwin to feel uncomfortable. He broke the early morning silence with a rough, “good morning.”

Knowing better than to expect a response from the other man, he stood, gathering clothes for the day and heading over to the bathroom to take a shower. He could feel Levi’s eyes on him all the way to the door.

His morning routine was quick and mostly filled with endless trails of thoughts. He was beginning to feel the case dragging on and he was more eager than ever to get something to occupy their days. Realistically, he knew it’d only been under two weeks since they first arrived in Virginia and he knew that they were making good time compared to some of the kidnapping cases he’d observed in the past.

He thought back to the previous cases he’d overlooked with Mike, wishing he could go back to the routine they once had. Working long cases was easy with Mike. The two of them operated well together, they knew each other inside-out. 

Things were much more simple with the system he and Mike had; Erwin would do the note taking and paperwork based on the observations and actions Mike would make in the field. Erwin could only wonder why Zackly had decided to put him in this case with the new agent. He and Mike could have easily worked on the case together, even if Erwin was required to work in-field for this case.

Deciding that his doubts were not helping anything, he decided to drop the thoughts entirely as he walked out of the steam-filled bathroom and into the room. Levi was laying on his back on his freshly re-made bed. Clothes were stacked next to the man’s thighs.

Erwin placed his dirty clothes in his empty suitcase as Levi slowly rolled out of his bed and made his way to the bathroom, clothes in hand. Seeing as there was not much to do to keep himself occupied, he made his bed as well, as slow as he could bear.

Once he’d finished that task, he sat on the chair by the desk, looking over the mess of papers stacked up on the small piece of furniture. For how much paperwork they’d gathered in their week and a half of staying, Erwin was surprised at how little they’d really gotten done.

After many moments of contemplative silence, Levi emerged from the bathroom, hair wet and much less tired than he seemed to be before. In the back of his mind, he wondered how much sleep the other man had gotten.

He watched Levi pack up any files they needed as well as a small digital recorder that Erwin couldn’t remember seeing previously. Before he knew it, they were in the Honda and heading to the police station, 80s rock playing quietly.

When the arrived, Erwin knew they’d beaten Anders there, seeing as the only other car parked by the building was Mullison’s silver truck. He was relieved to have time to set up the meeting, both physically and mentally.

Officer Millison nodded to them in greeting when they walked through the main entrance. When Levi asked the man where they’d conduct the questioning, Mullison opened a drawer from his desk and pulled out a small key. “Chief’s out at the moment. You can use his office though.” Erwin caught the silver key that was tossed to him and thanked the officer. He unlocked the sturdy wooden door and pulled it open to reveal a small room consisting of a desk at the center, a bookshelf behind it, and a flagpole off in the corner. It was exactly what he’d imagined.

He and Levi cleared off the desk and placed out all of the documents they took with them and by the time they were satisfied with the setup, a loud knock came from the door. Levi briskly pushed the heavy door open to reveal a man with dark, long hair and fairly long stubble. Erwin assumed the man would appear much taller if not for the consistent slouch in his posture.

Taking a seat in the Chief’s chair, he gestured for the man to sit on the opposite side of him. Anders languidly compiled and sat heavily into the uncomfortable seat.

Levi joined him, standing to his left side and reaching for the file in front of him. Erwin decided to fill the silence. “Thank you for coming, Mr. Anders.”

Brown eyes lazily looked to him. “Just call me Joel.” Although he was uncomfortable with being on a first name basis with a possible murderer, he knew the man wouldn’t budge on the request and Erwin only wanted to speed up the process.

At Erwin’s silence, Levi spoke up as he laid down the pictured of each of the girls. “Do you recognize any of these girls?” Erwin carefully observed the brown eyes skim over the girls, hesitating on Caitlin Ammins’ picture for a half a second too long.

There were a few beats of silence before Anders said anything. “I know Caitlin.” A hesitation. “Well, I know of her, more like.” Brown eyes were still focused on her picture.

Levi looked to Erwin, possibly as permission for the blond to take the lead. “How did you know Caitlin Ammins?” Anders’ eyes snapped to him for a moment.

“She lives two houses down from mine. I know her mother.” Keeping note of the man’s phrasing, Erwin wrote down the new information and continued. “When was the last you saw her?” Anders let out a sigh as he sat back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling for a moment. “It was a few days before she disappeared. It was a, uh-” a beat. “I think it was a Tuesday. I was watching TV and I saw her walking down the street from my window. She takes the bus to and from school.”

Erwin wrote as he spoke. “Did you ever talk to her on her walks to or from the bus?”

Anders' eyes stayed trained on Erwin. “No. I’ve known her mother for a while, though, and she talks about Caitlin a lot.” Erwin nodded, eager to possibly coax out any slip-ups. “What did Ms. Ammins ever say about Caitlin?”

Anders seemed to zone out for a moment as his eyes foggily locked onto the pen in Erwin’s hand. “Stubborn, that one. Traci always talked about their fights. Nothing too major, from what I’d heard, but both Traci and Caitlin were too stubborn to let things go. She loved Caitlin with all her heart, though, that is something I’m absolutely sure of.” He sounded uncharacteristically distant.

Erwin knew he needed to get the questions back on track if he was going to get anything but pitty out of the man. “Where were you on May 18th?” Erwin grabbed a small calendar he’d found on the Chief’s desk earlier and circled two dates, the day of Caitlin’s disappearance and the current date. He watched Anders’ eyes scan over the small paper, face impassive.

It took him a moment to answer. “I was at a bar not too far from where I live. Called Schauts.”

Erwin’s eyes lit up in recognition. “Can anyone account for you there?”

Anders shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe the bartender, Alex, can. Not sure, though. Didn’t really talk to anyone.” Erwin made a note to call Alex and second Anders’ alibi. The story was flawed at best.

“One more thing, Joel, before we’re done here. Your background check shows some interesting things. What can you tell me about your criminal record?” Anders’ eyes remained sharp as the man spoke almost immediately. Erwin guessed the man had seen the question coming.

“I was young and incredibly dumb. Got into some trouble, got detained for a bit, and learned my lessons. That’s all there really is to it.” Erwin nodded and put down the pen. Although he’d like to continue digging, he got what he needed and he’d take a guess and say that any more digging might only serve to irritate Anders more.

“Thank you for your time, Joel. That’s all we needed.” Most likely eager to leave, Joel stood from his chair and took Erwin’s extended hand in a brief handshake, perfectly reflective of the man’s stern disposition.

Without another word, Joel took his leave. Erwin and Levi waited until the sound of his footsteps faded away before they spoke. Erwin held his words for a moment longer to allow Levi to speak first. 

“Innocent.” The smaller man held out a finger to stop any beginnings of an argument coming from Erwin. “The thing is, he did the one thing any murderer with an ounce of sympathy could not do; he said Caitlin Ammins’ name. Repetitively and without hesitation.”

As soon as the finger was put down, Erwin spoke up. “There’s a high possibility the kidnapper we’re dealing with has severe lack of empathy, though. Sure, at the front, he seems innocent, I’ll give that to you, but is it too crazy to think that maybe it’s a coverup? He has a keen knowledge of Cailin Ammins; knows down to her travel schedule. It would be easy to obtain the girls because of his location. Even his alibi has holes.” He began subconsciously tapping the end of his pen against the desk as he talked. “Anyone can claim to be anywhere, he’s no exception. He didn’t talk to anyone, immediately making his alibi’s credibility slim to nothing.”

Levi stepped to him and grabbed the pen from his hand in one quick move. Erwin blinked heavily as Levi flipped the page of the notepad he was previously writing on and began making a rough sketch of the Burkeville area. Erwin noticed an emphasis on the areas they agreed needed to be searched.

“We’re wasting time. We need to redirect our thinking to searching. We can still keep Anders in mind, but we need some evidence.” While Erwin knew Levi was right, he was reluctant to just ignore everything they’d just gathered.

“Fine, we can prioritize the search, but let’s not drop this. We need to check his alibi and we should talk to Traci Ammins about her perspective on Anders.” As he spoke, he made the lists on the paper in front of him with a new pen. Levi let out a quiet sigh as Erwin continued mumbling to himself.

When he finished his train of thought and set down the pen, Levi flipped back to the map and sat on the edge of the desk. The pen in Levi’s hand was passed off to Erwin. “Where do you think we should start?”

Having countless hours of previous contemplation on where they’d search, Erwin was quick to circle two areas of the map. Levi’s eyes traced over Erwin with a nod and a minuscule smirk. Erwin assumed he already had similar thoughts.

“The pond and the quarry. Any particular reason?” Even though Levi had asked the question, Erwin guessed that the other man already knew his reasoning.

Deciding to play along, Erwin felt a smirk creep to his lips as well, although much more noticeable. “Call it a hunch.”

Shaking his head and dropping his head down, Levi let out a short, quiet laugh that left Erwin shell-shocked for a moment. While it was hardly what he’d considered being a laugh, Erwin had never heard anything that joyous from the detective. Erwin couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face.

The moment didn’t last too long, though. Before long, Levi began packing up their paperwork. Erwin joined the detective to pack up in a comfortable silence. Soon enough, they had the room looking as if they hadn’t been there in the first place.

Before they left to return to the inn, they informed Mullison about their plans and organized their search schedule and team. With everything set and ready to continue, the two agents drove back to the inn and surrounded themselves with terrain research, both eager to begin the next day with the start of the searching process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys for the support so far, it really does mean a whole lot to me!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New police officers are introduced as the boys finally do some searching. The day ends up to be so much more than they could have expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is by far my favorite chapter so far, and I hope you enjoy it as well! This is when things start picking up, so go to the end notes for warnings!

The intrusive sound of his alarm clock, for once in his life, was a welcome cacophony. He’d never woken up so quickly and so willingly in his life. While he wasn’t excited to be in the woods in 90-degree heat for hours on end, he was excited for the possibility of finding any incriminating evidence.

With their plans made to begin fairly early, they throw on the best clothes they could find to avoid overheating and briskly drove to the meeting point they had set up with the search team. The 15-minute drive was rather pleasant, everything and everyone around them still asleep and the sun just barely casing it’s beginning orange light over the trees.

By the time they’d pulled to the impromptu dirt parking lot filled with two police cars, a truck with a trailer attached to the back, and three four-wheelers. Erwin took note of the three officers sitting on the opened door of the truck's tailgate. Slightly irritated to see they were late and the others had to wait for them, Erwin quickly paced to the officers, shaking each of their hands in blunt introductions. 

It seemed they were almost as eager to get to work as the two agents were. “So, as far as I understand, the plan is we head to the pond a few minutes from here, I begin diving in the pond while you four search the surrounding area, and see where it goes from there?” The one woman of the group reminded him slightly of Levi with her to-the-point attitude. She seemed a little less reluctant to be here compared to the small man, though. He was glad that their diver seemed trustworthy enough for him to know that she would find anything in the pond if there was anything.

Once they’d confirmed the plan, the hastily began grouping two people on each four-wheeler, aside from the diver, Audrey, who was given the grey four-wheeler with a large crate attached to the back. The container was filled to the brim with waters, snacks, and diving gear. On one of the other officer’s, Noah’s, back was a large black backpack filled with photography gear, sterile gloves, biohazard bags, labels, markers, he and Levi’s paperwork, first-aid kits, trash bags, and police tape.

As they approached the dark blue four-wheeler they’d been assigned to, he and Levi stared at each other for a brief moment. Recalling his time riding four-wheelers as a kid in Kansas, Erwin offered to drive, knowing the controls like the back of his hand, even though it’d been years since he last drove a four-wheeler. With a suspicious glance, Levi compiled and sat in the space behind Erwin. 

When he kicked the vehicle into gear and began the tread on the dirt roads. He was acutely aware of the arms that wrapped around his sides as well as the hands that rested in between his ribcage. Erwin could feel his heart pounding all the way throughout his body and he was almost worried Levi could feel it, too. 

The Virginia heat seemed to ease for a moment with the wind rushing by them and the bland, open dirt roads with towering trees on either side of them immensely reminded Erwin of his hometown. The thought hadn’t occurred to him in almost 10 years and he couldn’t help but feel homesick in its own bittersweet way.

Before he knew it, the group turned off of the sand road and into the narrow openings of trees. Riding through woods without trails was notably harder to navigate than having a pathway already made. After many minutes of winding around countless tree stumps, spider webs, and potholes, Erwin was ecstatic to see the pond finally come into view. Once they all stopped, Erwin’s internal exclamations of joy were interrupted by a drawn-out groan from Audrey. The four of them looked to her as she walked to the crate on the back of her four-wheeler with a glare to the green pond water. “This water’s fucking disgusting.” She pulled out an oxygen tank. “My luck.” 

He felt Levi lift himself off of the four-wheeler and step to the edge of the water, looking to the murky green with both disgust and curiosity. Erwin joined him by the pond. “Where should we start?” 

Levi let out a huff of air. “Let’s just start in the surrounding brush.” Erwin nodded and set out to search the shrubbery. Time seemed to pass quickly once he’d set himself to work. 

Occasionally, Audrey would surface with odd items in her hand and her laughter filling the open gap of the trees and echoing off into the distance. Each time, Erwin would find himself laughing along and grabbing the trash from her hands, placing it in a black bag with fading giggles. There were many times in which he’d gotten snagged by thorns and protruding, sharp roots. Every now and again, he’d pause to ogle at the expanse of bug bites and scratches along the uncovered skin of his arms, shins, and calves. He knew for a fact he’d be sore and aching in the morning.

At several points throughout the day, they’d begin to succumb to the rising head and they’d all take a break to gather by the supplies, drink some water, and eat some of the snacks. It was those moments in which the five of them passed the time by sparking up conversations to lighten up the anticipation lurking in the air. They all silently agreed to talk about anything but the case. Erwin was thankful to have conversations that didn’t revolve around the eight girls, it seemed to feel like forever since he’d had a civil, normal conversation with anyone.

He’d learned that Audrey studied oceanography for the majority of her college career before transferring over to police work when she realized she was afraid of the hostile creatures that resided in the ocean. She had a long distance relationship with a girl who studies behavioral science at a masters level in New York. They’d made plans to move in together in Maine after her girlfriend finishes her degree.

Noah was younger than the rest of them and had recently gotten married to his high school sweetheart. His life seemed to follow the plot of a cheesy romance film to a T and Erwin was almost reminded of his younger days when he almost married Marie. Noah and his wife lived in a small, two bedroom home in Burkeville and were trying for a baby to add to their new family. The way he talked about his wife made Erwin delighted for the younger man.

William was an older man who had been in the police force for over 20 years. He didn’t live in Burkeville, but he was in Crewe, not too far away. He grew up in Virginia, but he moved to Washington in his early adulthood. After a while, he came back to Crewe to get back into a rural lifestyle. He now lived in a small neighborhood with his dog, Gatsby.

With being around Levi in social situations, he quickly learned that the detective as reluctant to say anything about himself. Even if he did give, the information was vague and most likely not the full truth. Even so, it was nice to see the man relax and observe for a moment. 

He himself told the group of his childhood working on his father’s farm in Kansas. He told them of his almost marriage with Marie; before they both realized that marriage was not something they were ready for, nor really wanted. He told the group of the lighter stories he’d had with Mike in their years of working together at the FBI. 

All he’d learned about Levi was that he was a private, cold case detective in Seattle, Washington before he moved to San Francisco to work for the FBI. Even though it was little to no information, he was thankful and honored to uncover any backstory on the smaller man. 

After a fulfilling ‘lunch’, they got back to work. It wasn’t until later into the afternoon when Audrey frantically emerged from the pond with a shout. “Guys, I’ve got something!” They all hurried to her as she trudged out of the murky water. She was holding a light blue running shoe, looking rather fresh for being in a still-water pond. Erwin’s heart sped up in his chest. 

Levi quickly fetched their files before jogging over to Erwin. The two of them hurriedly halved the pile of reports and searched for the description of what each of the girls were last seen wearing. Erwin’s pulse jumped as he came across the familiar document. His eyes scanned over the small words. 

His throat tightened as he lowered the papers. He turned to Levi, who caught on to his movements and made eye contact with him. 

“Hannah Kennedy, last seen wearing blue Nike air max running shoes, size eight.” They maintained eye contact as Audrey confirmed the shoe to be a size eight, her voice heavy. 

Levi was quick to recover. “Keep looking. Stay to where you found the shoe.” Audrey was silent as she zoned out for a moment, presumably holding in tears. Erwin admired her resilience as he watched her scoop back down into the water.

The four of them sat in the dirt, facing the pond, staring at the shoe in shocked silence. They were all eager to see what she’d find. They weren’t kept waiting long.

Audrey emerged with more weight than usual. He watched two heads appear from the murky water. Audrey had found a body. Erwin felt the adrenaline thrumming through his entire being. Levi practically leaped to his feet and hurried into the shallow shore to help Audrey. They quickly had the body laid out on the dirt a foot or so away from the water. Levi rolled the figure to their back and gently parted the long black hair covering their puffy face. After many moments of trying to properly analyze the blue, peeling skin of the face, Erwin eventually recognized the figure to be Hannah Kennedy. 

Levi sat back on his calves with a quiet curse. Erwin couldn’t take his eyes off the gruesome signs of rotting skin and overly-swollen appendages; a sharp contrast to the pale, peaceful face that had been carved into his brain by the dozens of pictures he’d seen of her. The pictures of her broad smile and lively eyes and tan skin dotted with freckles. 

The girl in front of him was slightly blue in the face from asphyxiation, showing the extreme amount of suffering in her last moments. Her face and neck littered with discolored bruises, a sharp contrast to her delicate features. He had to take a moment to close his eyes, take a breath, and remind himself not to compare the corpse in front of him to the vivacious Hannah Kennedy he’d seen in the countless pictures. 

With a different mindset, he looked to the body laid out by the pond. Nausea that was gradually developing came to a peak as he noticed the heavy duty ropes tied around Hannah’s wrists, ankles, and waist. Attached to the other end of the rope were several cinder blocks, having served their purpose of weighing her down long enough for her to drown. 

As the initial adrenaline began fading, the smell of the slowly rotting corpse caught up to him. Bile crept up his throat and he had to turn his back and take a few shaky breaths to keep his emotions in check. To play off his sudden squeamish behavior, Erwin paced to the backpack placed on the ground by Noah and William’s four-wheeler. He grabbed the camera and forensic photography kits, as well as the biohazard bags and sterile gloves.

Erwin handed the camera off to Levi, who quickly began snapping photos. He passed gloves to everyone in the group; all of whom except for Levi were sitting by the cluster of ATV’s with grim, blank expressions. They all accepted the gloves without a word. 

Taking Levi’s instructions and advice, the two agents were able to properly photograph, document, and collect any evidence from the scene. Erwin heard a wailing of sirens quickly approaching. He assumed the police officers had called for backup when Audrey had found the body. When a new batch of officers arrived, the group was quick to hand over the ropes and pack up the four wheelers. After a brief conversation on how the body would be transported as well as where they’d perform the autopsy, Erwin and Levi walked side by side to their shared four-wheeler.

Although Erwin knew that so many thoughts were going through both of their heads, neither of them said a word for the entirety of the trip to the car. With appointments made to go to a nearby medical center and follow up on the autopsy, they were quick to pack up and head to the inn to wait. It would be a few hours until they could get results from the doctors at the clinic and they had plenty of thinking and analyzing to do to pass the time. 

When they settled in and began opening up their documented notes, Erwin spoke, his voice gravelly and intrusive in the sustained silence. “Did you grab the camera?” He looked over to Levi, but the smaller man was still reading through his notes, although Erwin doubted the man was retaining any of it.

“Gave it to Noah. He’s getting the pictures sorted and printed at the department.” After about an hour of silence and nothing but his own thoughts ringing in his head, it was nice to hear Levi’s voice and get himself grounded again. 

So he kept talking. “What are you thinking?” Grey eyes finally met his. Erwin knew the question was vague, but he had a feeling Levi would understand, regardless.

It took a long silence until Levi spoke, detached and impassive. “I don’t think the drowning was the only thing that killed her. There were a number of bruises and deep cuts all over her face and arms. Maybe she tried to defend herself from an attack.” A moment passed with neither of them saying anything. Erwin watched the other man aggressively run a hand through his hair. “I’m also getting mixed signals on this killer. We assumed he was a rookie, but the average person wouldn’t necessarily be able to go through the process of planning the murder of someone and managing to hide the body well enough for it to go unnoticed for so long.”

“Maybe it was just a common knowledge or maybe even a fear that if the body wasn’t weighed down, then…” Erwin hoped Levi wasn’t catching on to the masses of empathy rolling through his body in torturous cycles. He’d seen countless mutilated corpses, most of them beyond recognition, through countless pictures scattered along his desk back in San Francisco, and yet, he couldn’t have possibly prepared for the feeling of weight crushing his chest as he watched the nearly-unrecognizable Hannah Kennedy being dragged out from the sickening, murky pond. 

His brain snapped back to a conversation he’d had with Hanji Zoe, a forensic scientist and one of his closest friends that worked alongside him at the Bureau. At his insistence that detachment from recognizing previous life in corpses was the simplest part of his job, they had clicked their tongue and lowered their voice, ominously informing him that opinions change with experience. At the time, he’d brushed off the statement as he had with most of the nonsense Hanji would say. In retrospect, he could finally say his opinions had changed with experience.

He was learning that death takes on a new identity from different perspectives. Had he not dedicated days at a time studying up on Hannah Kennedy’s personal life, down to her everyday habits and behaviors, the image of her swamped corpse would not occupy such a large part of his brain. He couldn’t help the waves of helplessness he’d been feeling as he dared to conceptualize the deaths of the other seven girls. 

Even through all of his training and the years he spent desensitizing himself to the concepts of death, he felt weighed down by the parts of his brain that were fighting for both apathetic and compassionate reactions. For the first time in many years, he was scared. The thought alone was enough to knock the air from his lungs. He was terrified of getting attached to these girls to the extent of losing all of his progress fought for as a homicide detective. 

He was expected to be cold and uncaring, the images of mangled corpses nothing but a walk in the park. He was scared of losing his mind to the horrors he’d face ahead. He would need to make a choice; his job over his humanity.

It was a choice he wasn’t sure he could confidently make. Another concept to add to his fears. Through it all, he could only look to Levi in envy and awe. The man was the picture perfect image of a detective. He was the stoic agent who shouldered trauma and death with a straight face and a clear head. And yet, he seemed capable of empathy and the emotions that kept him human. Erwin wanted desperately to know what was happening inside the other man’s head, and as someone who trained for years to study exactly that, Erwin could feel nothing but incompetence.

He needed to feel the thrill of simply being correct, a concept he hadn’t felt in days. He knew he needed a goal to keep his sanity; something achievable, yet astonishing. With the new headspace, he took the deepest breath he had all day and reminded himself to think.

“She bruising not only on her face and neck but her arms as well.” Levi nodded briskly to his statement. “We can assume from there that the bruising from her face was caused by offensive attacks, while the bruising along her arms could be seen as defensive wounds, correct?” Another brisk nod. While Levi’s face didn’t portray it, Erwin supposed the new pieces of the puzzle were falling into place for not only him, but the smaller man as well.

“We can then assume that she and her killer were in a close, brutal fight. If we can find any DNA from what we’ve found on her, then we’ve found our killer; or at least have the potential to quickly find and incriminate any suspects.”

Levi was quiet for a moment before he reached for the small phone he carried with him. “I think we could use a specialist.” The grimace on his face contradicted the rare, high compliment, but Erwin’s questions were settled as soon as he heard Hanji’s shrill voice yelling through the speakers.

Erwin cringed harder as Levi took the phone from his ear and put it on speaker for Erwin to hear clearly. “- I’ve missed you guys so much! It’s so empty here without our favorite little-” Levi was quick to cut them off.

“Can it, Four-Eyes. Surprisingly, we actually need your fucking help.” Their exclamations were silenced as they quickly sobered up. Erwin was glad he couldn’t see the way their expression would shift from wide smiles to grim, flashing eyes in a matter of seconds.

“What is it?” At the inquiry, Erwin spoke up. “A body has been found in a nearby lake. We’ve drawn up theories that the victim had been fighting with the killer in the moments before her death. We wanted to know what you advised our next step to be with that new assumption.”

Hanji’s lower, sturdier voice was a sharp contrast to their usual bubbly behavior. “When attacked, a common defense mechanism is scratching and biting. Your best bet would be extracting any skin cells from under the victim’s nails. It might be a stretch since you mentioned the victim was underwater, but if you’re lucky, some of the cells might be intact if they’re embedded enough. Can’t hurt to look.”

Erwin watched the smaller man hang up after a brief “thank you” and begin writing in his small journal. Erwin saw the moment opportune to get out his thoughts.

“The rope.” The pen in Levi’s hands paused for a moment. Erwin continued speaking. “Would it be a stretch to try to find out where the rope was bought? I noticed the material was fairly heavy-duty.” More frantic scribbling on paper.

Erwin wished he could see Levi’s face for a moment. “Autopsy.” The dismissive tone told Erwin all he needed to know. He was left with his thoughts. Remembering a previous desire to begin documenting his thoughts, much like the small detective would do with his small notebook, Erwin grabbed his laptop and opened a blank document page.

While it took him a moment to figure out where to start, Erwin quickly lost track of time. Before he knew it, he was snapped out of his trance to the sound of his roommate gathering his belongings. Erwin saw it as a sign to get a move on and get ready to leave.

Before long, they were in the car once more. Neither felt the need to go through the effort of playing music, so Erwin zoned out to the passing scenery and constant rumbling of the engine. The usually-deserted clinic was crowded with identical rows of police cars and an ambulance. Erwin took a breath to prepare for the worst.

The stress was palpable from the moment the two agents stepped through the heavy doors. They were quickly ushered to an aged man in a white coat. Erwin’s eyes were drawn to the blood stains on the man’s right coat sleeve.

“Hello, gentlemen, I’m Doctor Pixis.” Erwin shook the wrinkled hand offered to him, making sure to check for any possible blood on the doctor’s skin. When the hand was offered to Levi, the detective simply scoffed and asked for the autopsy results.

To his surprise, the man let out a gruff laugh that echoed through the grim hallway. “Alright, down to business I suppose. The victim is deemed death by drowning. We’ve concluded her to be dead for about three weeks. However, there’re some interesting things we’ve found.” To Erwin’s morbid fascination, the doctor pulled out a small silver flask, taking a quick swig before continuing. “We have reasons to believe the victim was unconscious before submerged in water.”

The agents shared a look as the man continued. “The skin under the ropes were indented, but not aggressively torn per se. As I’m sure you’re aware, a victim will struggle frantically when drowning. The skin was intact enough to assume she had either gained consciousness very soon before her death, or she was just really indifferent about drowning.” Another swig.

“Let me see the rope.” At Levi’s request, Pixis led them to a small room. Several pieces of evidence were laid across a table. Erwin recognized Hannah’s clothes, shoes, the ropes, the cinder blocks, and a variety of water and dirt samples.

Putting on the tight gloves passed to him by Pixis, he and Levi began examining, measuring, and sketching out the rope’s size, durability, texture, and design. Erwin began connecting the dots. The killer was assumed to be living near Burkeville. There were only two places at most one would be able to find such good quality rope in the small town. If all would go well, they would compose a list of names from the sellers' receipts from those two hardware stores. He hoped the shopkeepers had a good memory of events and faces; their job would go so much easier.

With the new sketches and a set of printed out autopsy conclusions, the two hastily made their drive back to the dreaded inn for the night, finally in high hopes for a successful case.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: graphic description of a dead body, descriptions of abuse.
> 
> I hope you guys liked this chapter. Your feedback means a lot to me. Every single comment makes my day and puts a smile on my face. Thank you guys so much!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new suspect is found, their most crucial evidence is collected, and Erwin learns that Levi is much more human than he lets on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much groovy for more art!   
> https://twitter.com/groovy_ocelot/status/1046924033013555200?s=19  
> https://twitter.com/groovy_ocelot/status/1049814753927933952?s=19

That morning, Erwin and Levi stopped by two stores the specific brand and model of the Rope King Polyester Rope, the same brand of rope used to tie down Hannah Kennedy. 

From there, they gathered a handful of receipts with that specific item from the last two months. They then stopped by the police department and went through the database to find contact information for every customer listed on the receipts. 

For the next several hours and countless cups of coffee later, the two were sprawled out at two adjacent desks with their papers, flimsy receipts, and phones in hand.

“-Thank you for your time ma’am.” Erwin heard the phone being heavily set down and the distinct sound of popping from the other man’s side of the room. He looked over to see Levi stretching out and popping his back and neck. Taking his cue, he picked up the next receipt. As soon as Levi resettled and made eye contact with him, pen and paper ready, Erwin turned his body to the phone. 

As he typed he offhandedly commented, “Francis Gatts, bought on Sunday, May 14th.” He dialed in the number printed next in the list from the paper they’d printed and waited for a response. It came almost immediately.

“Yes?” The quiet voice was distinctly unique compared to every voice heard that morning. The hesitancy of his tone caught Erwin off-guard. “Hello, is this Francis Gatts?”

“Yes.” Unsure if he was doing something wrong, Erwin swallowed down the lump in his throat as he looked to Levi, who looked much more attentive than he had moments ago.

“My name is Erwin Smith. I’m investigating a missing persons case in Burkeville. I wanted to ask you a few questions if that’s alright with you?” The silence on the other end of the line was unnerving. Erwin had to check that the man hadn’t hung up after many moments of silence.

“Yes.” Wishing the conversation to be easier, Erwin reminded himself to stay professional and not hurry to accuse anyone. 

“Where were you the night of May 16th?” He could hear the man’s breathing in his ear. He covered the bottom end of the phone and told Levi to make note of the strange behavior and delayed reaction times. 

“I was at home, sir.” Erwin shook his head as he listened. He told Levi the new information and unclasped his hand from the microphone. “Can anyone account for you?” At the hum of disagreement, Erwin took another breath. “How about the night of the 18th?”

The response was quicker this time. “At home.” Before he could ask again, Gatts added, “Alone.”

Taking a new approach, Erwin chose the most recent kidnapping date. “How about Saturday, June 3rd? About three weeks ago?”

“I don’t go out often, sir.” Exasperated and profoundly suspicious, Erwin closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. 

“Would you mind coming into the Burkeville Police Department for questioning any time soon, Mr. Gatts?” The distinct sound of breathing was heard once more. Erwin kept his eye contact with the detective across from him currently waiting to jot down any new information. 

“Tonight?” He seemed to sound even quieter, if it were even possible. 

“If that works for you Mr. Gatts, that works for us.” Before he could close off the call, the man’s voice called to him from the earpiece. “Us?” 

Hesitating only for a moment, Erwin spoke slowly and cautiously. “Yes, sir. Me and my partner Detective Levi Ackerman. When you get to the department, you can ask for either of us.” Erwin flinched as he heard a hurried “okay” and the sound of the line cutting off.

He was quick to fill Levi in on the oddities of the conversation.

By the time they made a solid dent in the number of phone calls, the sun was rapidly setting and the shadows stretched along the room until there was no sunlight left at all. The two were jostled from their work as a set of heavy knocks sounded from the door.

Cursing himself for losing track of time and consequently not giving himself enough time to get organized, Erwin hurriedly shoved the stacks of papers to the side of the desk, hiding any potential evidence from their interviewee.

Levi let the man in and the agents were shocked to see the frail-sounding Francis Gatts standing in the doorway in his six-foot glory. The man was lanky and plain in appearance. Erwin knew from their previous phone call, however, that this conversation would be anything but plain.

“If you could have a seat right there.” Erwin gestured to the plush chair on the other side of the desk he was sitting at. Gatts carefully took a seat and fidgeted, not quite seeming to know what to do with his hands. From the corner of his eye, Erwin could see Levi continuing his notes from his side of the office.

“I want to talk about your alibi you’ve previously given me over the phone.” While Erwin knew that introductions before questioning would help the tall man relax a little, the strange mannerisms made Erwin reluctant to stall any longer, hoping to draw out more peculiar habits and word choices.

“Okay.” Gatts was looking to his hands, folded neatly over his lap. He suddenly looked up to make direct eye contact with Erwin. “I was not lying. I’ve been home.” The actions sent Erwin’s mind was racing, trying to decide if the man was telling the truth or not. The sudden confidence made the man’s words hard to disprove. 

“Mr. Gatts, I’m sure you’re most likely aware that unless you have someone else to account for your alibi, we are not quick to believe you.” Gatts’ confidence seemed to shrink down to nothing as the man’s eyes drifted back to his hands. It was then that Erwin caught up to the nervous tic. 

“May I see your hands?” Brown eyes snapped to him, but his hands remained clenched and close to his body. As Gatts seemed to finally realize that Erwin wasn’t letting up, the man placed his rough, scabbed hands on the sturdy desktop. Alarms immediately began sounding in Erwin’s head as he latched his eyes onto the scabs slowly healing over on Gatts’ knuckles.

His mind was bombarded with the image of the discolored patches of skin covering what he’d been able to see on Hannah Kennedy’s body. He reminded himself not to jump to conclusions, no matter how badly he wanted to assume that the man in front of him was guilty of pummeling the previously lively girl. 

“How did you get those scabs, Mr. Gatts?” Erwin leaned forward, making sure his expression would reveal none of the thoughts swirling in his brain. Gatts looked to a spot just left of Erwin. The anticipation and tension in the room were practically tangible.

“I punched a wall.” His voice was quiet, regretful. Erwin couldn’t be more frustrated that the man would keep covering up his suspicions with semi-inconspicuous explanations. 

Yet, Erwin couldn’t smother the doubts. He decided to attempt a different strategy. With a stony, cold tone, Erwin held direct eye contact with the tall man seated in front of him. Unwaveringly, Erwin emphasized, “How did you get those scabs, Francis?” 

He watched the man’s nostrils flare as the man once again folded his hands in his lap and focused his gaze downwards. “The wall. I… the wall.” The stuttering was expected and taken with a grain of salt as Erwin decided to keep up his strategy. 

Abruptly, Erwin stood from his chair and briskly grabbed the folder from beside Levi. Knowing exactly what he was looking for, he grabbed the small pile of photos of the eight girls. Erwin paced back to the desk and firmly placed down the large photograph of Hannah Kennedy’s portrait. Erwin took notice of the subtle tears welling in Gatts’ eyes.

“Hannah Kennedy has been found at the bottom of a lake in the outskirts of Burkeville.” Gatts’ eyes never left the photo as Erwin spoke. “She was found half rotting and clearly bruised from head to toe. We suspect the killer beat her to unconsciousness before tying her up and drowning her.” While Gatts’ face remained stoic and tense, a tear streaked down the man’s face. 

Erwin knew the tactic was cruel, but the impatience was beginning to form a pulsing headache that he could no longer ignore. One by one, he laid out each and every picture before the man sitting at the desk. “I’ll ask again. How did you get those bruises on your knuckles, Francis?”

Gatts was silent for many moments before he let out a harsh whisper. “I punched a wall.” Erwin observed the hands that were bone white from clutching each other so hard. His face was scrunched and tear-streaked. Erwin predicted that if the man had not clenched his hands together, they would be shaking violently.

Erwin was almost startled as Levi stepped in beside Gatts and hurriedly gathered up the photos. Erwin tried to make eye contact with the smaller man, but Levi’s eyes were pinpointed to his task. It didn’t take long until the detective was back to his side of the office with the folder put to the side and more notes being jot down. The silence was deafening once more. Erwin took a quiet breath to settle his racing heart and sat back down in his chair as calm and smooth as possible.

Gatts’ eyes were still blearily focused on the spot where the pictures were placed on the desk, tears still silently flowing. Erwin felt a slight twinge of shame at his gruesome actions, but placed the thought aside. He knew he had to fix what he’d done before sulking. “I’m sorry, Mr. Gatts, but I hope you recognize that the actions were necessary.” With no physical or verbal response from the shell-shocked man in front of him, he continued. “That is all we needed from you. Thank you for your time and once again, I do apologize for the abruptness of it all. You’ll keep in contact with us if necessary, correct?” 

Gatts nodded his head slowly, still not shifting his focus. He looked hollow. Erwin stood, hoping it would signal Gatts to depart as well. The man rose on shaky legs and walked out the door, clumsy, silent, and unfocused. 

Erwin simply continued to stand, unsure of how to transition. Levi was completely still from his seat across the small room. He seemed lost in thought. Erwin wasn’t far off from lost as well. Many seconds, possibly minutes passed by until anything else was spoken.

“Too far, Smith.” The words were like a punch to the gut, but he knew that Levi was right. “The man practically shit himself by the end, there.” Erwin was unsure if the man was even slightly joking or not, but he felt nothing but the heaviness pulling his mouth into a slight frown. 

“It got results.” He knew he sounded as unsure as he felt.

“He could file a fucking restraining order after the shit you just pulled.” Levi’s tone raised significantly, sounding much louder in the small room. Erwin nodded, still frowning. 

Catching on to Erwin’s solemn disposition, Levi let out a heavy sigh and began collecting all of their files. “Let’s do what Hanji suggested. We should try to get evidence from Hannah’s body.” Erwin nodded and followed the other man as they cleaned up and walked out to the Honda.

Erwin woke up as he felt the jostling of a speedbump, signaling their arrival to the clinic. Groggy from his short nap in the car, he gathered their papers and followed Levi, who mentioned nothing about his catnap, to the entrance.

Doctor Pixis greeted them with a wave as they walked to the room that Hannah was being kept in until they could properly bury or cremate her. “We would like to take a sample from the victim's nails,” Levi informed Pixis as they continued to walk. 

Soon enough, they were in a closet-like room with sanitary supplies, hazmat suits, and aprons hanging along the walls. He and Levi were quick to put the apron over their heads, put on gloves, a surgical mask, a hair cap, and glasses. Pixis helped to wheel over a cart filled with test tubes, sample collectors, and countless medical tools.

Dread settled in the pit of his stomach as Pixis slid out the mortuary cooler rack to expose the distinct shape of Hannah’s body under a white sheet. As Pixis pulled the cover up and down, exposing Hannah’s upper body, the harsh lighting clearly exposed the peeling, discolored skin. The smell of rotting flesh hit suddenly hit him. He blinked away the habitual tears at the strong scent.

Erwin watched as Levi lifted the pale, blue-tinted hand with more caution than he’d ever seen from the detective. Looking closer, he could see the slight tremors in Levi’s hand. Caught between wanting to look away and needing to observe closely, he watched Levi take a scraping tool and some tweezers, carefully scooping under Hannah’s right middle finger. Erwin fixated his gaze on the clump of skin that came out easily from under the nail with a sense of numbness. The skin was placed in a transport tube and labeled to be sent off to a lab. 

Levi’s shaky hand lowered Hannah’s arm back to her side. His expression was unreadable. 

The moment they left the room, Levi was off to remove his gloves and scrub his hands. When he came back, Erwin took notice of the red splotches covering the skin of his small hands. He decided to not mention his concern to the other man, who still seemed to be as stoic as usual, if not slightly stiffer than usual.

Before he knew it, they were pulling up into the inn. Erwin couldn’t help but feel like time was slipping away too quickly for comfort. He wanted more than anything to be able to ground himself; he was tired of feeling like he was just floating about. His headspace was simultaneously crowded and empty, busy but lagging.

Once they found themselves in their room, all of their papers were dropped onto the already-crowded desk and they each plopped down on their respective beds.

In the silence, Erwin observed the smaller man sitting on the bed next to his. Pale hands were still shaking, almost imperceptible. The man’s leg was bouncing, abrasive and steadfast. Erwin could recognize the stress radiating from his body. 

He couldn’t get the image out of his head of those pale hands grasping the lifeless hands of Hannah Kennedy. The way Levi took the tool to her nail with a gentleness he never saw anyone conduct on a dead body. The same gentleness as Levi placed her blotchy hand back on the examination table.

It was then when Erwin took notice of the way Levi was aggressively scratching and picking at the skin of his hands. He could hear the man’s breath begin to speed up. 

Knowing Levi's emotions were quickly spiraling into hyperventilation, he stood from his bed and carefully approached the detective. Seeing no signs of rejection, he gently took Levi’s hands into each of his own to prevent him from hurting himself. His pale hands were damp with sweat and shaking violently, but Erwin held on as the man’s chest began spasming with shallow, gulping breaths. 

Levi’s body began rocking back and forth and heaving with soundless sobs. Erwin’s heart longed to be able to help the smaller man, but he was well aware that panic attacks simply must be ridden out. 

In an attempt to help the man ground himself, he whispered, “Can I touch you?” The incoherent man let out a burst of quick nods and Erwin was quick to place the shaking hands on his shoulders before gently wrapping his own arms around the man’s sides to rest his hands on the quivering back. 

With their chests pressed together, Erwin began taking deep, exaggerated breaths for Levi to match. After many minutes, Levi’s breaths became less shaky and much slower, matching his own. The hands that were clenched into Erwin’s shirt had loosened, however, they were still shaking slightly.

Even after Levi’s breathing had stabilized, neither broke from the embrace. Erwin had half expected the man to kick him to the next year for breaking his personal bubble, but at that moment, he was more than happy to provide comfort to the usually stoic man.

With a sniffle and a shaky sigh, Erwin felt the weight of Levi’s head leave his shoulder, followed by the loss of heat as Levi swiftly turned his back and harshly wiped at his face with his forearms with a curse. 

Erwin watched the smaller place his elbows on his thighs, cradling his head in his hands. The silence rang in his ears and Erwin found himself at a rare loss for words. He’d talked to countless people about their experiences with panic attacks as a psychiatrist, but he’d never seen anyone have one in person. All of his professional advice and observations seemed to flee from his head as he tried desperately to conjure up any reassuring statements. 

He was snapped out of this thoughts as Levi hastily rose from the bed and stormed to the bathroom. Erwin could feel just as much as hear the door slam shut. Soon after, the silence was filled with the sound of the shower running.

Left alone to his thoughts, Erwin composed and rehearsed several opening statements to say to Levi once he’d come back into the room. Knowing the man’s lack of social skills, he kept his internal dialogue professional and prompt, ready for the other man’s predicted silence. In his daze of deep thought, Erwin paced to the dresser, taking out clothes from Levi’s drawers for the smaller man to take once he’d finish his shower. Not wanting to intrude, he placed the pile of clothes right outside the door.

After sitting in silence for a while, Erwin turned the TV on and set it to NCIS, the only title he recognized from the short list of available shows. He hoped the background noise would prevent any heavy, awkward silences. The sounds filling the silence was also efficient in drowning out the mental images ingrained in his head over the past 24 hours. With nothing left to prepare, Erwin laid out on his bed and waited.

Even when the sound of running water ceased, a long moment of anticipation had passed until the door creaked open. He turned his head and saw a pale arm reach to the clothes set out by the door and he let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when the door shut once more.

Knowing the man wouldn’t take long to dress, Erwin sat up, zoning out as his heart sped up. He couldn’t seem to erase the feeling of nervousness crawling up his throat.

When familiar black hair emerged from the bathroom door, Erwin was quick to speak, knowing Levi appreciated blunt, to-the-point exchanges.

“You don’t need to feel ashamed about panic attacks. It’s only natural that the brain will become overwhelmed once exposed to traumatic events. Paired with the time you had to simply think and overanalyze, worrisome thoughts were bound to build up and erupt over at some point. It’s good for your brain to express emotions, even if it is explosive at times-” Levi scoffed from his place at the doorway, leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Erwin watched grey eyes flicker over to the TV, possibly avoiding eye contact with the blond. 

“Don’t go therapist mode on me, you’ll give yourself an aneurysm.” Erwin recognized Levi’s subtle defensive behavior and chalked it up to probable embarrassment. 

While Erwin knew better than to pry, he needed to express his thoughts while the opportunity was still in front of him. “Seriously, Levi, you don’t need to feel embarrassed about-”

Harsh eyes were back to him in a heartbeat. “Erwin. Shut. The fuck. Up.” Before he could retaliate once more, the detective’s attention was directed to the screen again. “NCIS? Really?” Levi’s voice was coated in sarcasm and in sharp movements, the remote was taken from beside Erwin and the sound of dramatic music came to a halt as the shorter man turned off the TV.

The sudden lack of noise only made the silence ring louder. Erwin couldn’t seem to understand why he felt so on-edge. He simply wanted to comfort Levi, but he was only making it worse.

He heard a long breath from Levi and looked up to meet the grey eyes with his own. Levi simply observed him for a moment before speaking. “I’m alright. Don’t worry about it.” Erwin’s brows furrowed slightly.

“Are you sure?” At that moment, Levi broke the eye contact and looked out the window to the diner with an unfocused gaze. Erwin was relieved to see the twitch of a smile at the other man’s lips. 

“I’m sure.” He hesitated for a moment. “Thanks.” 

With nothing left to say at the moment, Erwin followed Levi’s lead and began getting ready for bed. He only hoped he would actually get any sleep that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if it seemed OOC, I just figured it would be a breath of fresh air to show that neither of these characters are superhuman. I look forward to your feedback!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Before they could blink, everything begins to simultaneously unravel and click into place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that I'm a little late posting this one, but I hope you like it!

The DNA transport tube was sent to an FBI lab in northern Virginia the night of obtaining the sample. The week leading up to getting word back about the results was excruciatingly long in Erwin’s eyes. For the entirety of the week, he had been experiencing levels of restlessness he never knew he was capable of. 

 

After the questioning with Francis Gatts, Erwin had finally felt like they had the possibility of solving the case. The adrenaline of gathering evidence in a time when they were cold on leads had dissolved into crushing anticipation. If the sample came back with DNA detected that did not belong to Hannah Kennedy, they would finally have their killer exposed. However, if the sample came back with no abnormalities, Erwin knew they would once again be forced into a stand-still. As much as he hated the expression, he knew that only time would tell.

 

As each day passed, the two agents would get progressively stir-crazy. There were many mornings spent talking with Petra and her handful of co-workers at the diner, many nights spent talking to Alex at Schauts’, and many occasions, regardless of time of day, spent driving aimlessly around central Virginia blasting the impressive pile of CD’s they’d gathered over the weeks. While he knew Zackly would question how they managed to use up so much gas money, he couldn’t bring himself to care.

 

Many nights of endless typing and writing spent with bated breaths, waiting for a phone call seemed to quickly rile up both Erwin and Levi in record time. Neither seemed to need to speak to each other very often and while Erwin used to chalk their lack of conversations up to awkwardness, he could now find their silence comforting more than anything. 

 

He did, however, wish at many points in the week that he could talk to Levi about the man’s panic attack the night they returned from the clinic. He kept his thoughts to himself, knowing all too well that the detective wouldn’t be quick to indulge Erwin on talking about his feelings.

 

With seemingly countless hours of time on his hands, reflecting back on the beginning of the case was something Erwin found himself doing quite often. He found comfort in knowing that, almost a month after flying into Virginia, he’d gained so much knowledge not only about the case but about his partner as well. 

 

Even though the man was known for his quiet, stern personality, Erwin was proud to discover so much about the man and uncover that there was so much more to Levi than he, and many others gave him credit for. 

 

He was fascinated by Levi’s quirks and habits. The way he held his cups by the rim, the way he carries around hand sanitizer everywhere he goes, the way he inconspicuously bites at the insides of his lips when he’s concentrating, the way he cleans his area until everything is spotless when he gets stressed. 

 

The first time he witnessed one of Levi’s “cleaning fits” was the night before results came in. They had both been restless and burnt out, quickly running out of things to keep themselves occupied. Erwin was about to suggest they go for a drive when Levi stopped everything he was doing, intricately folded a bandana over his head, gathered seemingly endless cleaning supplies from the closet (when he got them, Erwin had no idea), and got to work.

 

Before he could so much as question him, Erwin was put to organizing all of their piled up paperwork and sent to help the shorter man clean the room top to bottom. The rest of the day passed quickly after that.

 

When the DNA results came in the next night, the two were huddled up in their newly-cleaned workspaces when Levi’s ringtone filled the silence of the room. The detective practically lunged to the nightstand to answer. Erwin could hear the familiar muffled, indistinguishable talking from beside Levi’s ear. When the phone was hung up, Erwin was unsettled to see Levi staring off at the wall, seemingly frozen.

 

“What is it? Are the results in?” Wide, grey eyes snapped to him and Erwin was stunned for a moment at the intensity of the stare.

 

The words were quiet when Levi uttered, “Francis Gatts.”

 

Feeling as if the world was spinning too fast, or as if he was in a dream, Erwin had to steady himself for a moment as he processed the words.

 

Almost as if a switch was flipped, the two scrambled up, grabbing only what they needed and practically sprinting to the car, almost plowing down a cleaning maid on their way out.

 

When the car was started, Levi typed an address into the GPS and filled him in on the phone call. “Mullison told me to go to Gatts’ house. He’s not too far from the lake. We’re meeting with the police on-site. They’re gonna detain Gatts and we’re heading the search through the house.”

 

Erwin nodded, still feeling as if he wasn’t in his own body. A million questions filled his head, but he kept his gaze focused on the road ahead of him, struggling to organize his thoughts.

 

A sharp pang of dread caught in his throat as they turned off onto a gravel road. The GPS revealed they were close to their destination. It wasn’t long at all until Erwin could see the siren lights flickering through the trees to his left and up the road ahead. 

 

They recognized Mullison as he ran up to their parked car. “Erwin! Levi! This way.” They hurriedly followed Mullison as they were led to a circle of patrol cars and a group of armed officers. They were each ushered into protective vests and given a Glock 22. Erwin’s hands shook as he felt the weight of the gun in his palms. 

 

With a too-quick rundown of the layout, he and Levi found themselves at the entryway of Gatts’ cabin-like house. 

 

The first thing he noticed was the level of sanitation in the living area they were first greeted to and the exposed kitchen on the far side of the house. Everything was spotless, not a single thing out of place. 

 

To his left, he immediately took note of the hatch door that presumably led to a basement. The sirens in his head were set off. Only half-listening, he heard Levi instruct half of the group to search the ground-level rooms while he, Levi, and the rest of the group would cover the basement.

 

With Levi’s help, the hatch was opened and they made the slow, hesitant approach down the steep set of stairs. The small hallway was dimly lit and flickering, leaving the dread in his gut to only sink further. At the bottom of the narrow hallway was a heavy,  arched metal door. He and Levi shared a knowing look.

 

He watched Levi’s pale hand unhook the large mechanism that latched the door shut and helped the detective push open the heavy metal. Four familiar sets of brown eyes were on him, all varying in emotion. 

 

Feeling as if the breath was knocked from his chest, he called for the group to put away the guns immediately. He could barely hear his own words over the ringing in his ears. He almost wondered if it were even himself speaking. Still, the officers did as he instructed. He and Levi stayed in the doorway, careful not to set off the four girls into panic.

 

He took in the plain clothes they were wearing, each identical. Simple black T-shirt and black leggings. They wore no shoes nor socks. He was pleasantly surprised to see they were not alarmingly thin, nor did they seem unbathed. He was alarmed, however, to see prominent bruises spotted along Julia Harding’s tanned cheek and jaw and as well as a dark, ugly bruise over the bridge of Francesca Agro’s nose.

 

Reminding himself to stay calm, he scanned the room. Two plain metal bunk beds on the far wall, four storage chests, two in the nearest corners and two on each wall to the side, a small nightstand in between the beds, and a large table with four chairs at the center of it all. The girls were huddled in the far left corner of the room, in between the bed and the wall.

 

With his gun put away, he raised the both of his hands by his head, hoping the gesture would show he was not here with the intention of harming them. To his surprise, one of the girls, Francesca Agro, as he remembered, spoke up. “Get away from the guns.” She sounded sure, commanding with a level of control he would have never guessed she was capable of from first glance. 

 

Without hesitation, Erwin and Levi handed their guns off to the two officers behind them and told them to reconvene with the officers upstairs. With looks of disbelief, the two did as they were told, leaving he and Levi alone with the girls.

 

With the threat of weapons gone, the group seemed to relax slightly. Francesca demanded, “Who are you?” Her dark eyes were narrow and suspicious.

 

With a pointed look from Levi, Erwin responded, “I’m Erwin Smith and this is my partner Levi Ackerman. We’re here to get you out of here.” Behind Francesca, Julia Harding, Mariana Adams, and Reagan Ulrich exchanged hopeful glances. 

 

Francesca didn’t budge. “Prove it.” With slow, obvious movements, Erwin and Levi took out their respective badges. Francesca took a step to them and reached out for the offered objects. As she read them, Erwin spoke. “Francis Gatts has been arrested. I’m sure he’s being taken off to the police department as we speak.”

 

Seemingly much more relaxed, Francesca took a few steps closer to them and handed back their badges. Erwin was startled as Francesca pulled him into a tight hug before letting go and doing the same to Levi. Erwin didn’t bother to hold back the smile as he watched Levi freeze up at the contact.

 

Mariana spoke quietly from her spot on the floor. “What about us? Where are you taking us?” Thinking for a moment, he weighed his options. Gatts would be locked up at the Burkeville department in a holding cell until he could be transported to a prison, which eliminated the option of taking them there. The local clinic would be a horrible place for the girls to go in their first moments of freedom. An idea flickered in his head and he looked over at Levi, asking for his phone. With a puzzled look, the detective handed it to him. 

 

Erwin quickly found the number to the diner and called the reception desk, hoping they were still in. He knew they would be closing soon. He was never happier to hear Petra’s greeting.

 

“Petra, Hello! I know this is an odd request and I promise we’ll explain everything to you, but could you keep the diner open for us a little longer? We’ve got some people here who would probably love something to eat right about now.” He watched Julia’s eyes light up.

 

Petra was hesitant when she uttered, “Um… alright? I think can do that.” Erwin silently thanked his sudden bouts of luck.

 

“Thank you so much, I promise we’re not wasting your time.” With that, the line was cut and his focus was back to the four girls.

 

“Would you guys like to get some food? We know of this diner not too far from where you guys live. We can contact your parents and get you guys to meet up there.” Erwin knew that Zackly and the police chief would give him shit for it later, but he would be perfectly okay with the consequence if it meant the girls were ok.

 

With arrangements made, the frightened girls were led to police cars with the destination of the diner in mind. Erwin and Levi were glad to see they’d beaten the others to the destination and at a quick pace, they walked in to find Petra waiting for them with a hesitant smile.

 

“What’s going on?” Erwin knew that he needed to just explain everything to her, no matter how much it would be all at once.

 

“This will be sudden, but hear me out. Levi and I are FBI Investigators from California. We were sent here to find the eight missing girls that have disappeared over the past month and a half or so. We were successful in our case and four of those eight girls were found alive tonight. We needed a safe place to get them back with their families, and this was the only place I could think of.” Light brown eyes were wide as saucers as she retained all of the information. With a stunned laugh, she steadied herself on the seat of a booth. 

 

Still too shocked for proper words, she nodded, gestured to the empty seating area, and went off to the kitchen area, most likely to explain the situation to whatever was left working with her.

 

Behind him, he could hear two cars rolling into the gravel parking lot. The doors opened to reveal officer Mullison and the younger officer they worked with when searching the lake, Noah. Between them was Francesca, Julia, Mariana, and Reagan.

 

They pushed together the four round tables and combined all eight chairs. They all took a seat, aside from Mullison, who stepped outside to call the girls’ parents. They quietly began chatting about nothing important, the adults making sure that the four kidnapees were the ones initiating the topics of discussion. 

 

Of the four girls, Erwin took notice that Reagan Ulrich hadn’t uttered a word since being found, nor had she expressed that she could even hear and see everything around her. She was entirely hollow, and Erwin hoped more than anything that she would find recovery. 

 

Julia seemed a little stunned, but when she was deep in the conversation, Erwin was overwhelmingly glad to see a bright smile occasionally cross her face. He predicted that she would be ok eventually, even if it did take time to get there.

 

Mariana was seemingly unaffected by the horrific events they’d just been through, but Erwin guessed that she was only processing things different from the other three and that she was maybe going through a stage of denial, a common stage in the aftermath of trauma.

 

Francesca seemed to gain wisdom way past her years. She was the one who spoke up for the others when she noticed something was wrong. Erwin admired her keen observation, likely a trait that had gotten her through her kidnapping. She seemed to be the one to take on the leadership role among the other girls. 

 

Before long, Petra emerged from the kitchen area with a blindingly bright smile. “It’s so good to see all of you!” The girls looked sheepish at Petra’s exclamation. Deciding not to mention anything else about their reappearance, Perta cheerily took everyone’s order. Erwin was excessively thankful that she and her coworkers would stay later than they had to for the occasion. 

 

When she returned to the kitchen area to fill their orders, Mullison came back into the diner with the confirmation that each parent or set of parents were on their way. The girls’ eyes seemed to light up at the news. He knew they were all eager to move on and take a step back into their normal lives again.

 

After Petra had come out with drinks and sat down to join their conversation, the first set of headlights shone through the windows. Before long a woman with dark, sleek black hair burst through the doors with a string of Spanish leaving her lips. Before any of them could blink, Mariana was swept up into her mother’s arms with a large smile adorning her face. Her father had walked in at some point in the exchange and joined the two of them, quickly creating the picture of a lovely family reunion. 

 

After the rejoicement, Marina's mother was shooting out questions faster than Erwin’s fatigued brain could catch them. A picture of professionalism, Mullison began explaining the situation to the livid woman. Before he could finish speaking, a family of three came through the doors and scooped up Julia much like Mariana’s parents had. 

 

Sobs and relieved smiled seemed to be a consistent factor that night. It warmed his heart to see Julia’s younger brother sprint to her and basically throw his small body into hers.

 

Keeping with the trend, Reagan’s parents entered the diner and Erwin had to physically look away from the devastation that welled up in her mother’s eyes at the unresponsive state of her daughter. Hugs were still exchanged, only without the joy he’d seen from the other two girls in Reagan’s eyes. Although he knew the kidnapping was not his fault, he couldn’t shake the guilt at hearing the painful sobs from Reagan’s parents.

 

Everything seemed to be playing in fast forward as Mullison once again tried to console the masses of fear, agony, and anger flooding the room as well as answer the swarms of questions. Erwin could see the vein in his head pop out as the stress made him frantic.

 

The bell from the door announced the arrival of a familiar face. Richard Agro’s eyes were immediately drawn to his daughter and he was quick to envelop her in a strong hug. There were no sobs and no smiles, but the relief was still radiating from the two as they clutched onto each other, completely oblivious to the loud chaos of the room.

 

With all the parents accounted for, Erwin saved Mullison from the misery and spoke up. “I really want to say I’m sorry more than anything. I don’t mean it in a guilty, apologetic sense. I mean to say that I’m just sorry that you all went through this and I wish more than anything that you call all move past this with a newfound appreciation for each other and the world around you.” He locked eyes with Levi for a moment before turning his attention back to the parents. 

 

“I am sorry to say that unfortunately, there are still some steps that need to be taken until we can all move on and try our best to put things behind us. However, I want to thank every one of you. We’re all here in this room out of horrific events that we had no control over, but we are all moving toward the mutual goal of understanding. I know that we will find our answers and I promise that when we do, they’ll be spread for everyone to know.” He hoped that the words were enough to settle down the large group of people, especially for the announcement for what would come next. 

 

“I’m very happy to say that the man in charge of this string of events is being sent to prison, most definitely for the rest of his life. With that, we will question him in search of some answers. I am also asking that each of you will stop by the police department in two days to talk through some of the recent events.” He watched many faced shift to anger. “While there, we will not only be taking accounts for the records, but also set up any future coping mechanisms, whether it be through therapy and counseling, or simply some information from people who had gone through similar events. In order to get our answers, I genuinely hope to see every one of you there.”

 

Erwin knew that they were likely to not have everyone show up in hopes that by denying the acknowledgment that the kidnapping has happened, everything would be put behind them immediately. He also knew that without the proper support, these girls could be seeing major consequences in their future. 

 

However, he knew he wouldn’t be able to get this through to some of them, so he simply had to trust that the parent would make the right choice.

 

Levi seemed to catch on to everything Erwin had not wanted to say in fear of upsetting anyone. “I’m not going to dodge around anything. Without talking about the kidnapping and without getting any future support, you would be letting these girls down. I know you all want to forget about the entirety of these past few months, but you’d be doing everyone a favor by going in on Thursday and giving the accounts as well as picking up a few pamphlets.” 

 

Reactions were torn between bewilderment, anger, and understanding. Erwin was thankful that it was said, though. He hoped that it would be enough for each of them to show up, even though he knew that there would still be some that would refuse to have anything to do with them beyond this point.

 

Petra came back with her arms full of plates of food, breaking the hesitant silence. “I can take more orders if anyone else wants anything to eat.” Her bright smile seemed to ease the tension considerably as a few more orders of food were taken and the presented food was distributed to everyone. 

 

With the subject dropped, snippets of conversation scattered across the dining room as the large group of people began chatting amongst each other.

 

As people began finishing up their food after a long stretch of time, goodbyes were exchanged and families began filling out of the diner, tired and relieved. Erwin was pleasantly surprised at the few amounts of people who had either expressed their thanks to the detectives or engulfed them in a tight hug. Erwin’s heart melted each time he saw the bright, hopeful looks of parents and children alike. 

 

He was reminded of exactly why he continued with his job, no matter how bad the nightmares became and no matter how stressed he’d been in the past several weeks.

 

With a genuine thanks to Petra and the three chefs working the kitchen, Auruo, Gunther, and Eld, as he was introduced, for staying behind so late, he and Levi made their way back to the Honda. 

 

As they settled and the overhead lights dimmed out, Levi spoke from his place behind the wheel. “I’m excited to never have to see this fucking car ever again.” The laugh that bubbled up in Erwin’s throat was completely unintentional and before long, he was caught in a laughing fit that he couldn’t seem to end. His vision was quickly clouded by tears and he didn’t notice the way Levi’s eyes widened slightly and the smile crept to his usually-stoic expression.

 

When he’d calmed down, Levi put the car in drive and looked to the road ahead. “Careful, Smith, I might say that you’re losing your fucking mind.” Erwin shook his head with a smile that he struggled to contain. 

 

“You probably wouldn’t be wrong.” He looked to the trees flying by them as he took a deep breath, trying to work out the cramp in his stomach. 

 

The walk to the inn felt domestic in its odd way. It was odd for him to think that in less than a week, they’d no longer make this trip to the small room they currently shared. It was odd to think that in a few days, he wouldn’t be around Levi for the majority of his day at all. 

 

He followed Levi in the room once the smaller man slid the keycard into the lock with a flash of green and a heavy click. With sluggish movements, Erwin grabbed his laptop from the desk and sat on his bed, quickly pulling up his documents and typing up the gist of the whirlwind of events from the day. The clock in the bottom right corner of his screen read 2:26 AM.

 

His tired, straining eyes blinked rapidly as Levi reached over and briskly closed the lid of his computer. “Get some sleep. You can kill your brain tomorrow.” Sat completely still with shock, Erwin did not reach out to grab the computer that was taken from him and placed back on the desk.

 

Knowing better than to argue at this point, Erwin toed off his shoes and curled into the covers without even bothering to get ready for bed. He heard the detective scoff at him, but Levi gave no verbal complaint, simply rummaging around the room for a moment before scurrying off into the bathroom. Erwin fell asleep quickly to the familiar sound of the shower running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback really helps me fix any mistakes I might have missed, so that would be greatly appreciated! If you ever have any questions about anything, I've got a tumblr (lostscaredandalone) if you ever wanna hit me up there. I also read every comment that comes my way on this fic. Thanks so much everyone!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some answers are found.

Erwin sat between Officer Morrison and Levi, facing the large group of people that occupied the small office. Erwin never wished more for a more open, functional space. The cramped room seemed to only heat up to uncomfortable levels, even the small fan whirring away in the corner didn’t seem to be much help.

With his computer at the ready, he made eye contact with his partner, gesturing for him to begin the questioning. “Alright, let’s try to keep this short and to-the-point, yeah?”

Levi shifted his weight and faced Francesca Agro, who seemed to be expecting the majority of the questions being directed to her. Her sharp, dark eyes reminded Erwin of her father. The bruise on her nose seemed to have faded slightly since the last time he’d seen her. “You were among the first four to be taken, correct?” She nodded.

“For a little while, it was just me, Carina, Caitlin, and Nicole. Caitlin and Nicole had known each other already, but Carina and I didn’t know anyone.” Erwin made a list of the names on a piece of paper, as well as a side note of previous connections. Levi kept his gaze on her, prompting her to continue.

She hesitated for a moment before speaking up. “We were so angry and so confused. He, uh… Gatts?” She looked to the detective for confirmation. At his nod, she continued. “Gatts had told us how happy he was that we were there. He said we would finally be a happy family. We, of course, didn’t believe him.”

Erwin watched her eyes fog up. Whether it be from tears, concentration, or both, he did not know. “Not too long in, Caitlin began screaming at him when he walked in with a new set of clothes for us. I don’t remember what she said, but Gatts didn’t take it so well.” A tear rolled down her cheek and she shook her head, wiping it away aggressively with an apology. With a gentle voice, Levi told her not to worry about it and to take her time. 

Her voice shook as she explained the series of events. “Gatts looked so expressionless, we almost thought he would just ignore her. He snapped at some point though. He, oh god… He grabbed her by the neck and shook her around. She looked so small. It didn’t take long until…” The tears were streaming down her face steadily now and it took all of Erwin’s willpower to stay composed. “When he let her go, he looked so sad. Nicole lost it. She began screaming and she kept hitting him. Without even looking away from Cailin’s body, he just…”

She paused for a moment, and Erwin felt horrible for having to bring up her memories so soon. “He grabbed her by the hair and just kept slamming her into the table. He kept saying something about ‘disturbing the peace’ and ‘betraying him’. I don’t think he really understood how much stronger he was than us.”

Levi nodded and Erwin crossed out two names from his list. Richard began rubbing along Francesca’s back as she tried to stop the tears. She sniffed and looked back to Levi. “I don’t know how long the three of us stood there in silence, but he eventually took them both in his arms and went out of the room. It was so quiet. I wish I could get the image of it all out of my head.” 

A bitter smile tensely curled her quivering lip. “He came back eventually with a bucket of cleaning supplies. He showed us how to get blood out of the wood and the carpet.”

Presumably giving her a break from speaking, Levi spoke up. “From looking at the calendar, we know that Gatts planned everything in sequences of two. The next kidnapping from yours is four days off. So am I safe to assume that Caitlin and Nicole were killed two days after you were taken?”

Francesca nodded after a pause. “I didn’t have an excellent concept of time, but it doesn’t sound wrong.” Levi hummed in confirmation before continuing. 

“So two days after the two deaths, Reagan was kidnapped.” Erwin continued with his list, rewriting the names of the survivors down a line and writing new names underneath the crossed out ones. With a quick look around the room, he noticed Reagan’s absence.

Francesca spoke again, nodding as she recalled the events. “Yeah, I remember. Reagan tried to talk and joke with us to calm us down. Carina wasn’t doing so well after… So Reagan tried keeping her company. Kept telling us that we were gonna get through it and that someone would find us. Talked about what we would do when we got out.” A bittersweet smile flashed across her face. “I thought that having Reagan around would cheer Carina up, but…”

Nobody pushed for her to continue, and after a moment, she took a deep, shaky breath and continues her story. “I woke up to the sound of Reagan screaming that next day. I rolled over and saw Carina hanging from the shoelace of one of her boots. Reagan wouldn’t stop screaming and I lost track of how much time had passed until hearing the door open. Oh god, Gatts was so angry.”

Levi’s eyebrow quirked up for a moment. “What did he say?”

“That she deserved it for taking advantage of his kindness.” She sounded bitter and more hateful than anyone should ever have to feel, especially at her young age of 18. “At that point, he took away our shoes and made sure that we had nothing we could harm ourselves with.”

Levi shook his head and diverted the subject. “The next kidnapping happens two days after Reagan’s and one day after the death of Carina.” Before he could go on, Francesca spoke up. “Hannah.” Slightly shocked, Levi simply nods his head.

“Hannah had so much fire in her eyes. She was quick to come up with a list of plans to jump Gatts and get out of there. At this point, Reagan had screamed her voice out and didn’t take notice of anything going on around her. She just laid in bed and stared at the ceiling. I knew that just between Hannah and I, we had no shot. Like I mentioned earlier, Gatts has a lot more strength than I think even he knows.”

Erwin took the slight pause to fill in the last gap on the second line with Hannah’s name and cross out Carina’s. “Still, she didn’t listen when I warned her and when Gatts came back with food, she waited until he put down the plates, and tried to knock him out by hitting him over the head with one of them.” She looked to her feet. 

“He grabbed her wrist before she got the chance… He knocked her out with a punch to the face. I think she was still breathing when he lifted her up and stormed out.” Her eyes narrowed in concentration for a moment before looking between Levi and Erwin. “Is she…?”

Erwin felt the frown form on his lips. “Her body was found about two weeks ago.” At his words, her gaze fell back to her feet. Feeling oddly guilty once more, he distracted himself by focusing back to the paper in front of him and crossing out Hannah’s name with a heavy heart.

“Okay, so after Hannah, Gatts’ schedule seems to balance out again. Two days after Hannah’s murder, Mariana is kidnapped. Two days after that, Julia is kidnapped.”

Erwin writes out the last line of names. Francesca speaks up again. “At that point in time, Gatts seemed to take away anything that we could possibly escape with and I figured that if we simply acted the part, we’d make it through. So the four of us stuck with it and fell into his routine. Now, here we are.”

Levi’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Here you are.” The mood seemed to lighten a little as Francesca’s story wrapped up. 

To his surprise, Richard spoke up from his place beside Francesca. “You mentioned earlier something about some resources for therapists?” A few heads around the room nodded at his request. 

“Ah, yes, of course. We composed a list of people, along with the cost per session, contact information, address, and specialty.” Erwin grabbed a stack of stapled papers and passed them around to the people in the room. 

“Is there anything anyone wanted to add to the report?” Mariana raised her hand from her spot in the corner. Erwin gestured for her to speak, prepping to make more notes.

“Gatts got very angry at us when we did something wrong in his routine.” She timidly looked to Julia and Francesca. Erwin noticed the way her eyes focused a beat too long on the bruising on the two girls’ faces.

She continued, “Gatts smacked Julia when she accidentally knocked over her glass of water. She was hit again when she didn’t fold her clothes when he took her to bathe.” Julia’s gaze was focused down to her feet, her expression unreadable.

Erwin cut in. “Did Gatts ever… touch any of you? Aside from hitting?” 

“Surprisingly, no,” Mariana responded. “It was humiliating when he had to escort us to his bathroom to shower.” 

Erwin nodded his head, glad the kidnapper had not sexually assaulted any of them. After a few seconds of silence, Erwin apologized for cutting Mariana off and asked that she continue her statement.

“He hit Francesca really hard when she accidentally slept in a few minutes late. If we would have known he would freak out about it, we would have woken her up…” Mariana’s gaze guiltily swept over to Francesca.

“Remember, it wasn’t you guys’ fault. I’m ok, really.” Francesca’s voice was sure and comforting. Erwin was glad that, despite everything they went through, they made it out together.

When he was sure the two were done speaking, he repeated, “Is there anything else you guys want to say?” At the following silence, Erwin initiated the string of thank yous and goodbyes as they group was directed out through the side entrance they entered from, the only way to avoid coming in contact with the man currently locked up in a holding cell towards the front entrance of the department.

A smile broke out on Erwin’s face as Francesca walked up to him, giving him a hug and a quiet, “thanks so much.” Before she left, she gave Levi a wave and a small smile, thanking him as well. When the sounds of footsteps faded away, they sorted through their thoughts in silence.

Before they completely packed up, Levi suggested, “How about we try to question Gatts before we head out?” With a curious glance in his direction, Erwin nodded and followed Levi out the door with his notebook and pen ready. 

Gatts’ cell was guarded by two armed officers, both looking surprisingly alert, considering their job was to stand there all day long. They each grabbed a chair and sat parallel to the bars separating them from the murderer.

The lanky man did not bother to look up from his hands. He could see blood dotted along his fingers, a sign that he’d been picking at the skin there. Not expecting to be ignored, the two agents sat in silence for a few moments, hoping that Gatts would give in.

Gatts continued to ignore their presence. Keeping in mind all of the things said by Francesca, he formulated a statement that would get to Gatts the most. “So they left you, didn’t they? The family you created.” Four pairs of eyes snapped to him. At least it got Gatts’ attention.

Gatts was disturbingly detached when he said, “After all I did for them, too.” Erwin only nodded, hoping he would continue. “I gave them a new home. I took them away from all of their troubles. I gave them a family. I fed them. I made sure everything was spotless, down to the routine.” 

“And yet, they’re gone and you’re rotting away in a cell.” Gatts’ dark eyes teared up and the skin of his hands was torn away with frenzied movements. “It’s so unfair, isn’t it.” He kept his voice neutral in hopes that Gatts would keep focused on the words. 

“Oh Jesus, they left me. I did so much and they left me.” Tears fell down the man’s face. Erwin felt nothing. “Just like her, they left me.”

Finally having something to grasp onto, Erwin questioned, “Her?” Gatts seemed to snap out of whatever trance he’d been in as his eyes lept from Erwin to the other three people in the room. 

Gatts gave a heavy sniff and looked back down to this hands. Erwin felt the disappointment sink in at being so close to some answers with no result. 

Resolutely, Erwin paced to the computer placed on the desk near the entryway and logged in using the username and password he’d watched Mullison type in multiple times. With quick movements, he’d pulled up Gatts’ record and wrote down the names of the people associated with him. On his record was the names of his parents, his ex-wife, and his daughter. 

Intrigued, Erwin clicked on the name of Gatts’ daughter, suddenly greeted with an enlarged picture of her. With ringing ears, he took note of the familiar profile of dark eyes, dark hair, and distinct freckles. He saw the cheekbones of Francesca Agro, the petite, pointed nose of Julia Harding, the eyebrow structure of Mariana Adams, and the eye shape of Reagan Ulrich. A harsh chill crawled up his back.

With his daughter's name engraved in his brain, he made his way back to the chair next to Levi. The detective merely kept his eyes trained to Erwin. He couldn’t tell if the gaze made him feel reassured or idiotic. 

Erwin debated his approach to Gatts. Things were starting to make sense. If Gatts wanted his daughter back, it would make sense as to why the victims all looked strikingly similar. His heart was racing in his chest at the newfound knowledge. 

“Victoria Gatts.” Dark eyes were on him once more. “Your daughter.”

The tears were back as the man’s hollow expression faded to anger. Erwin couldn’t help but notice it was the only time he’d ever seen the man look anything other than pathetic. “How dare you.”

With everything he needed to know confirmed, Erwin stood, collecting his belongings and leaving the police department with Levi following beside him.

Not ready to lose himself to his thoughts in the inn just yet, he suggested a night ride. Levi didn’t answer, but instead of turning right to get to the road that would lead them to the inn, they went left, heading out in the opposite direction of the inn. 

Their Pink Floyd CD was put in the car stereo. The music was enough of a distraction from his thoughts. He was quick to zone out as he watched the scenery fly by. As the intrusive image of Hannah’s body made its way into his mind, he looked over to Levi, who was concentrated with driving. 

He scanned his eyes over his neatly parted hair, his long eyelashes, and his deceivingly delicate features. He fought off the smile that came to his lips as he noticed the upward tilt of his nose, a feature he was shocked he hadn’t noticed before. The smaller man truly was the exact opposite of himself, down to not only his looks but his personality as well. 

Although, there were definitely many things he’d seen in Levi that he recognized in himself. The empathy for others, the ability to take charge of a situation, the dedication to things he deemed important. 

The main difference between them was Levi’s ability to hide it all and seem like a cold, uncaring person to anyone who doesn’t know him. Erwin never considered himself to be exactly readable, but there was no one as stoic and difficult to understand than Levi Ackerman.

When they came across the first stoplight they’d seen in miles, Levi looked to him. Realizing he’d been staring, Erwin wanted to look away, but the lights from the headlights across from them illuminated Levi’s features in a way Erwin had never seen before. Every sharp feature was accentuated with the contrast of shadows that swept across his face. He never truly realized how gray his eyes were until that moment. Erwin never took the time to notice how pretty he was.

Erwin was shocked to notice that for the first time, Levi held his gaze with a confidence he was not used to seeing in the other man. The atmosphere between them felt much heavier than it did moments ago and Erwin found himself wanting close off the distance between them.

They snapped out of the trance at the sound of a honk. The light had turned green. Levi accelerated quickly, sending Erwin’s back flat against the seat. The music spiraling around them hardly drowned out the ringing in his ears. Without another word, Levi took a U-turn at the next light and began their drive back to the room. 

The rest of the drive was insignificant and before he knew it, they were back in the Quality Inn parking lot. The sound of crickets warded off the awkward silence between them, but as soon as the doors of the building closed behind them, the silence was loud enough to ring in his ears. They steadily made their way to the room. Without so much as a word in his direction, Levi quickly gathered clothes and disappeared into the bathroom to shower. 

Erwin grabbed clothes of his own and placed them on the corner of the dresser, waiting for Levi to finish. He tried the best he could to not let his mind wander. He was, of course, unsuccessful. It wasn’t long until the memory of Francesca’s words brought the horrid mental images. He couldn’t help but think about how large Gatts’ hands would have looked wrapped around Caitlin’s slim neck. Couldn’t stop thinking about Victoria Gatts and the freckles that dotted her cheeks, looking too familiar for comfort.

He dug his palms into his eyes and laid back onto the bed, his legs still bent at the knees with his feet planted on the floor. With his eyes now straining from the pressure of a sudden headache, he closed his eyes and draped his forearms over the upper half of his face. 

He must have dozed off because the next thing he heard was the opening of the bathroom door. Blinking the drowsiness from his eyes, he listened out for the sound of Levi’s footsteps, only to hear none. After waiting for a long moment, he removed his arms from his face and rolled his head sideways to glance at Levi, who was leaning against the doorway.

“Showers open.” With another blink, Erwin sat up and righted himself before standing and walking to the bathroom, grabbing his clothes on the way. As he approached the detective, it looked as if he wanted to say something before his face went impassive and he stepped aside to let Erwin by.

The hot water felt excellent on his tense muscles, but before long he stepped out of the shower and finished his routine before stepping out into the bedroom. The lights were off and Levi was only a heap of blankets on his bed. Erwin knew the man was most likely still awake, but he let him be as he quietly laid in bed and tried to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that there will always be plot points that need to be fixed (thanks for giving me the feedback, it really does come in handy). However, I will have to fix major plot points later, as changing something in the plot changes everything occurring afterward and that's a lot of additional editing. Maybe one day I'll get to improving this story some more, but for now, I hope you still enjoy it! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback really, really helps me with my editing process, so please don't hesitate to leave me a comment! I'll gladly take constructive criticism just as I'll gladly take any other forms of feedback. Thanks, lovelies!


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